Ballesteros loses his touch again

Paris in the autumn is not quite filled with the hopes and desires of springtime. Experience shows to enjoy the good days when they happen, and Greg Norman and Bernhard Langer were doing just that yesterday in the Lancome Trophy. Seve Ballesteros, after his golden day on Thursday, could not quite recapture the magic, however. The sun was not smiling, and nor was the Spaniard.

Ballesteros was still sailing high on the leaderboard until he dropped four strokes in the last four holes. Where he had birdied the last four holes the previous day, Seve managed a different grandstand finish. His tee shot at the last, a downhill par-three where he was attempting to cut a five-iron, clapped into the spectator seating on the left. The ball was not finished there, bouncing high over a path and coming to rest outside the windows of the fine stonewalled clubhouse.

A recovery shot from here, off the flagstones and through the legs of tables and chairs and over a couple of crash barriers, is the stuff of Ballesteros legend, to which he had added only 24 hours earlier with his shot off his knees during the first round. Alas, the ball lay the wrong side of the white line that denotes out of bounds. David Garland, the tournament director, was on the spot but petitions for the OB line to be overlooked in the cause of entertainment were not to be entertained.

This left Ballesteros facing the infinitely more tricky proposition of replaying his tee shot. This time he did hit the green, but two putts gave him a 73, two over par, leaving him four under for the tournament and six adrift of the leader, Zimbabwe's Tony Johnstone.

"I play great today," Ballesteros said. "Just, you know..." With a little more luck at the finish: "That's the way it goes this year. I will make things change. I will shoot 64 tomorrow." After his great start, hopes of a first Ballesteros victory for two years always depended on the Spaniard being able to remain in contention until the final day. At least, for only the third time this year, he made the cut.

Darren Clarke, from the septet of European Ryder Cup players here, did not qualify for the weekend and Colin Montgomerie only did so on the one over par cut-off line. The Scot, who has not missed a cut in 23 tournaments this year, left the course head bowed after a 72. Asked if he had any comment, he replied with a sorry: "No". Instead of further discourse, Monty headed straight for the practice putting green.

If Clarke will prove no threat to Montgomerie's record fifth order of merit title hopes over the weekend, Ian Woosnam and Langer will do so. The German equalled the day's best score with a 65, to be one behind Lee Westwood, at six under, who is the leading Ryder Cup player. The 24-year- old, who barely misses a tournament, was raring to go after two weeks off and added a second successive 68.

Westwood, whose play from tee-to-green has been exemplary given he has taken as many as 31 putts on each of the first two days, is at the opposite end of his career to most of those on the leaderboard, which showed Johnstone, after a 65 in which he played the front nine in 30, leading by one from Norman and his fellow Australian Peter O'Malley. Johnstone is 41, Norman a year older. "It doesn't matter who is up there, you chase just as hard," Westwood said.

Norman, who is back where he has been for most of the last decade, holding the No 1 spot in the world, birdied the last five holes. "I think I get more satisfaction from winning now than when I did in my 20s," the Shark said. "It doesn't get any easier the older you get. But my competitive drive is bigger than before.''

LANCME TROPHY (Saint-Nom-La-Breteche) Leading second-round scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 132 T Johnstone (Zim) 67 65. 133 G Norman (Aus) 67 66; P O'Malley (Aus) 65 68. 135 S Grappasonni (It) 66 69. 136 L Westwood 68 68; M O'Meara (US) 69 67; E Romero (Arg) 68 68; S Struver (Ger) 71 65; D Smyth 69 67. 137 A Hunter 68 69; C Suneson (Sp) 71 66; A Oldcorn 71 66; S Field 69 68; B Langer (Ger) 72 65; D Gilford 69 68; R Goosen (Rsa) 70 67; P Price 69 68. 138 D Howell 66 72; S Ballesteros (Sp) 65 73; P Mitchell 69 69; M Jonzon (Swe) 67 71. 139 R Claydon 69 70; P-U Johansson (Swe) 71 68; F Tarnaud (Fr) 69 70; J Lomas 69 70; S Ames (Trin) 69 70; P Hedblom (Swe) 71 68; P Lawrie 68 71; P Affleck 67 72; P Eales 70 69. 140 G Turner (NZ) 69 71; M Roe 71 69; G Evans 69 71; G Clark 71 69; J Sandelin (Swe) 70 70; I Pyman 72 68; R Russell 69 71.