DAVID Howell's struggles on his return from injury continued as he bowed out of the 100th Open De France at the halfway point today.

The Swindon player, 41, could only card a second-round 78 at Le Golf National in Paris to finish 10 over par, well adrift of the score required to make the cut.

Howell has largely struggled since ending a three-month absence from competitive golf in May, missing three cuts out of four.

A level-par round of 71 would have been enough to have secured his place for the weekend, but the two-time Ryder Cup star was soon in trouble on day two as he double-bogeyed the opening par four hole.

A birdie at the long third partly repaired the damage, but Howell's conclusion to the front nine was poor, dropping three shots from the seventh to go out in 40.

He went on to bogey the 12th for a second day in a row and although is spirits were lifted by a birdie at the next, three more shots went at 14, 15 and the 18th to end his participation in the tournament.

Rory McIlroy stormed into a share of the second-round lead with a brilliant five under par 66 at Le Golf National.

The Northern Irishman battled to a level par 71 in the first round and admitted his swing was a "work in progress" as he attempted to rectify the issues that saw him miss the cut at the US Open two weeks ago.

Barring a tee-shot into the water on the last, however, the world number four showed no signs of swing trouble on Friday as he catapulted himself into a share of the lead alongside Mikko Ilonen, Thongchai Jaidee, Brandon Stone and Jeunghun Wang.

Howell will hone his preparations for this month's Open Championship at Royal Troon by playing in next week's Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart Golf Links, near Inverness.