MADRID MASTERS:VICTORIES ARE hard to come by in the cut-throat modern game but Graeme McDowell is determined to keep Luke Donald waiting for an end to his four-year dry spell after a second successive 68 left him just four shots behind his former Walker Cup team in the Madrid Masters.

McDowell hasn’t won since he lifted his fourth European Tour title at Loch Lomond nearly two years ago but Donald, who missed almost six months of the 2008 season with a wrist injury, is winless since the 2006 Honda Classic.

“I’ll try not to remind him of that tomorrow but Luke is a fantastic golfer,” said McDowell, who opened in style by holing a 113-yard wedge for an eagle three at the 10th and outweighed three bogeys with five birdies. “He is 13th in the world right now and you can’t take that away from him.

“We are similar style players, fairways and greens guys who are good with the putter and I am looking forward to going head to head with a great guy and a great player.”

Like McDowell, Donald bogeyed his 16th and 17th holes in the morning wave to card a 67 and lead by four shots at that stage on 12 under par. But McDowell’s hopes to joining his 2001 Walker Cup team-mate in the final two-ball today were dashed by a couple of Welshmen.

Jamie Donaldson fired a 70 to get to nine under before rising star Rhys Davies hit a 68 in the afternoon to go into the weekend just a shot off the pace on 11 under par.

One player who won’t be around for the weekend is former world number two Sergio Garcia, who started with a double bogey seven on the 10th and ended up shooting a 73 to miss his first cut on European soil for six years.

His next outing is the US Open at Pebble Beach in a fortnight but he didn’t sound convinced that the surroundings there would lift the gloom. “Hopefully, but I can’t see into the future,” said the downcast player. “It’s hard when you know your potential and feel like you can’t achieve it.”

Paul McGinley’s opening 66 turned out to be a false dawn as he took 32 putts and shot 74 to slip eight shots off the pace on four under. “I had no return on the greens today and that was the difference,” McGinley said. “It’s an opportunity missed. I didn’t hole any putts, which didn’t create any momentum.”

That left him alongside Peter Lawrie, who found form with the putter for the first time this season as he finished birdie-birdie for a 69. “To be back holing a few putts is the key,” Lawrie said after taking just 26 putts. “I’ve regained a bit of confidence with the putter and I am just delighted with that.”

Damien McGrane struggled to a 73 to make the cut with a stroke to spare on two under par. Despite bookending his front nine with two double bogeys, Shane Lowry squeaked in for the weekend on the mark with a 74.

But Gary Murphy has now made just three cuts from 12 starts this season after a second successive 73 and Simon Thornton was also heading home after a 71 left him on four over.