Harrington makes the cut at Augusta

Ireland's Padraig Harrington made the cut by two shots at the Masters on the second day of action at Augusta National.

Harrington is in joint 21st place after his round of 71 saw him go into the third day's play with a 145 total, nine shots off the leader Trevor Immelman.

The Irishman had a tricky start to his round, bogeying the first, fourth and fifth holes, with a birdies at the par-five second in between.

However, Harrington rallied as the day went on and birdies at the 13th, 14th and 16th saw him make the cut with two shots to spare.

At the top of the leaderboard, Immelman, overnight co-leader with Justin Rose, matched his first-round score by posting three birdies on the back nine to reach eight-under-par 136 as he got hot with his putter on a warm, breezy day.

American Brandt Snedeker is alone in second place after he mirrored Immelman's rousing finish with birdies at 17 and 18 to complete a 68 for 137, two shots better than compatriots Phil Mickelson and Steve Flesch, and Ian Poulter.

'It feels great to break 70 both rounds,' said Immelman, 28, who four months ago had a benign tumour the size of a golf ball removed from behind his rib cage and had previously lost more than 20 pounds due to an intestinal parasite.

Four-times champion Tiger Woods is seven strokes off the pace after an up-and-down round of 71, while Rose plunged to a 78 thanks to a triple-bogey eight at the 15th hole in swirling winds that made it more difficult for the later starters.

'It was quite a fight to try and figure out what was going on out there,' world number one Woods told reporters. 'I mean, it was just swirling all over the place.'

Flesch who shot an eagle at the par-five 13th, to help his 67, while Poulter made three back-nine birdies for a 69.

At four-under-par 140 are England's Paul Casey, after a 69, and Canadian Stephen Ames, who shot his second successive 70.

Snedeker, 27, drew a huge roar from the gallery at number six with an imaginative chip from the green to carry a mound, landing it at a 90-degree angle from the cup and watching it trickle down a slope and into the hole.

'That was probably one of the luckiest shots I've ever hit on number six,' said Snedeker, the 2007 US Tour Rookie of the Year. 'The only chance I had was chipping it and trying to spin it a little bit.

'It came off absolutely perfect, tracking the whole way. If it didn't hit the hole it was going on 10 or 12 feet by, at best, if not off the green.'

Among those to miss the cut were Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia and Fred Couples, who remains tied with Gary Player for a record for the most consecutive Masters cuts of 23.