Paul Dunne, only playing in the field on the back of a sponsor's invite, showed his quality with a birdie-eagle finish for a second round 71 for 140, four-under-par, that moved the 23-year-old Wicklowman into the top-20 heading into the weekend of the Farmers Insurance Open at San Diego.

Both Irish players in the field made the cut: Shane Lowry, the world number 21, shot a second successive 71 for 142 to lie in tied-38th on his seasonal debut on the US Tour, while Dunne - playing on a sponsor's invite after failing to get into any of the "Desert Swing" tournaments on the European Tour and so deciding to play stateside - shot a second round 71 for 140 to be inside the top-20.

Dunne, who is also lined up to play in the upcoming Pebble Bach pro-am, had suffered bogies on the 10th and 12th only to rebound late on with a birdie-eagle finish on the 17th and 18h respectively that ensured he survived the cut and entered the weekend with the chance to contend behind midway leaders Gary Woodland and KJ Choi on nine-under-par 135.

Lowry, too, moved into contention: the 28-year-old Offalyman shot a second round 71 for 142 that ensured he survived the cut and also remained in contention to challenge over the weekend. Phil Mickelson bogeyed his last three holes to finish one over and miss the weekend. Jason Day, Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Hideki Matsuyama and Keegan Bradley joined him in packing their bags on Friday.

In his first individual outing of the year, Lowry’s back to back 71s confirmed his competitive instincts in the build-up to the US Masters at Augusta.