Justin Rose won his battle to halt a role reversal on day two of the Heineken Classic at the Vines Resort in Perth yesterday.

After two second places in South Africa and a storming move up to fourth in the Volvo European Order of Merit, the Hampshire golfer was suddenly looking back into the dim and distant past.

The bad old days, when he was struggling to make cuts, were back to haunt him as he made the worst possible start to his second round.

He bogied the second, third and fourth holes to slide from two under overnight to one over.

Another shot drained away at the short eighth but Rose pulled that one back with a birdie at the next.

But when he dropped another shot through the back nine, he had to birdie one of the last two holes to stay in the tournament. He did it for a 75 and and a one over par score which left him just inside the cut.

Rose had suffered the worse of the conditions with the wind freshening and making it difficult for the players. Overnight leader Pierre Fulke, who is leading the order of merit, slumped from five under to one under.

And Nick Faldo, so full of hope at the start of the week, crashed out of the tournament.

After the promise of his third place finish in South Africa a fortnight ago - his best solo performance for almost four years - Faldo missed the halfway cut with a three-over-par total of 147.

It was not a good day for overnight leader Dean Robertson or Greg Norman either.

Thirty-year-old Scot Robertson, who had finished his opening 65 by sinking a 103-yard pitch shot, managed only a 74 to fall four behind the two new pacesetters, Dane Steen Tinning and Australian left-hander Nick O'Hern. Norman was alongside him on the five-under-par mark of 139 after a double bogey six at the 396-yard fifth led to a 73 and hit his hopes of a first victory for three years.