Shane Lowry missed the cut at the Open de Espana with a dropped shot on the 16th hole proving costly for the Ryder Cup hero, while Tom McKibbin sits three shots off leader Marco Penge.
Needing to birdie one of the final two holes, the Offaly man couldn't find a putt and won’t feature at the weekend.
Lowry, who carded a 75 on day one, shot a three-under-par 68 and finished one shot off the cut mark at Club de Campo in Madrid.
McKibbon shot a six-under-par 65 that included a bogey, five birdies and an eagle to tie for 11th place.
England’s Penge took the halfway lead and then claimed he was only playing at "seven out of 10".
Four birdies, including the final two holes, in a bogey-free 67 took Penge to nine under, one shot ahead of Jeff Winther, Joel Girrbach and Aaron Cockerill.
"Very patient day, nice to have a bogey-free round," said Penge. "I played pretty solid, still a couple of bits there that I can improve on, but all in all it was a steady round of golf.
"I had a good range session after my round yesterday so today was slightly better – still probably only about a seven out of 10 but hopefully I can play some better golf over the weekend."
Dane Winther’s 64 shared the honours for the lowest round of the day with Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren, who was in a group of six players at seven under that also featured England’s Dan Brown and American Ryder Cup veteran Patrick Reed.
Dan Bradbury and Andrew Wilson are at six under, while home favourite and three-time champion Jon Rahm was four under after a 66.
Conor Purcell withdrew after round one.
