SWINDON golfer David Howell missed the cut by four shots at the Scandinavian Invitation at the Hills Golf and Sports Club in Sweden after shooting a combined four-over par across Thursday and Friday.

Howell was unable to follow up his respectable showing in Prague last week – he finished in a tie for 30th with a four-round score of eight under par – as an opening round of 73 in Sweden was followed up with a tidy one over at the golf club in Mölndal, near Gothenburg.

The two-time Ryder Cup winner has now missed 13 cuts this season across 16 European Tour events and it is looking increasingly likely that Howell will have to use his final free exemption chance to keep his Tour card for 2020.

Howell shot a messy 73 on Thursday that featured four holes under par with five holes of bogey or double bogey.

The former Broome Manor pro looked to be heading towards a respectable start of one under before dropping four shots in his final four holes to drop outside the competition’s top 100.

Searching for a greater degree of consistency from his game, Howell opened up Friday with 10 consecutive pars.

Unfortunately for the Swindon golfer, the first time his scorecard featured any colour, it was to be blue as he dropped a single shot on the par-four 11th which he double bogeyed the previous day.

Howell then recorded a bogey on the par-three 15th to drop to two-over par before rolling in a putt on the 18th – his second in two days on the same hole – to grab a shot back.

With the cut at level par, Howell missed out on playing the weekend by some distance and he ended outside the top 100 for the ninth time this term.

Elsewhere, fellow Wiltshire golfers Jordan Smith and Laurie Canter also missed the cut.

Smith ended on two over while Canter finished on four over.