Padraig Harrington misses cut as rookie Aldrich Potgieter hits the front in Mexico

Padraig Harrington slumped to a second round 75 to miss the cut at the Mexican Open as South African rookie Aldrich Potgieter stole a march on the field after a blistering 61 on Friday at VidantaWorld.

The 20-year-old moved to 16-under-par ahead of Germany's Stephan Jaeger and American Brian Campbell. England’s Aaron Rai is a shot further back in fourth.

Potgieter, who won the Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2022, went out in 29 at Vidanta Vallarta with six birdies on his front nine, five of them in a row to the turn.

He added four more on the way home but parred the last two par fives as he missed the chance to shoot a 59 – a feat he managed on the Korn Ferry Tour last year.

"I knew on the back nine there was three par fives that I still had available to me, just tried to birdie those three and come up with a good score," Potgieter said.

"Yeah, made some bonus birdies and didn’t birdie the par fives, which were unfortunate. Yeah, really happy with today."

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After a strong opening round of 68, Harrington drove into the water with his first tee shot on the 10th, the resulting double-bogey setting the tone for his afternoon.

Further dropped strokes on the 16th, the 3rd and the 4th saw him fall back to two-over par for the tournament. And while he concluded with a birdie on the short ninth hole, it wasn't enough to preserve his interest in the competition, the Dubliner winding up three strokes shy of the cut line.

Shot 75 for a one over total and a missed cut. Struggled trusting my reads on the greens and putted badly because of that. @MexicoOpenGolf @PGATOUR pic.twitter.com/s0o7tNUfcW

Rai, at 29th the highest-ranked player in the field, eagled his 16th hole to go with five birdies in his 64.

Fellow