Rod Pampling is the leading Australian at the halfway mark of The Barclays at Liberty National, but has a lot of work to do if he is to challenge the leaders over the weekend. After struggling early on, Pampling closed with two birdies in his last three holes to card a two-over-par 73. He drops down to one-under overall and a tie for 11th place, but is seven strokes behind surprise leader Webb Simpson. Robert Allenby, who began the day equal with Pampling at three-under, had a difficult day with five bogeys on his way to a 75. Jason Day had an up-and-down round with four birdies, four bogeys and a double-bogey on the par-five sixth to be equal with Allenby in a tie for 29th at one-over. John Senden (T44), James Nitties (T56) and Adam Scott (T68) were the only other Australians to make the cut, with Nathan Green, Aaron Baddeley, Geoff Ogilvy, Marc Leishman, Nick O&aposHern and Greg Chalmers all missing out. American rookie Simpson shot a three-under-par 68 to move to eight-under, two clear of countrymen Steve Marino and Paul Goydos, who both settled for level par. With Tropical Storm Danny affecting the east cost of the US, most players struggled, but for Simpson it was a welcome return to form after missing 10 of his last 19 cuts having begun his PGA Tour career with two top-10 finishes. Fredrik Jacobson and Heath Slocum tied for fourth at four-under while England&aposs Ian Poulter led the clubhouse for much of the day on three-under despite only managing a one-over-par 72. That was the same mark as Steve Stricker and Richard S Johnson, with Ernie Els one further back after an impressive 68, the joint best round of the day with Simpson. Sergio Garcia had a day to forget after his 65 in Round 1, the Spaniard dropping to a tie for 11th after a 76. Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington also struggled, a 75 leaving him on level par heading into the weekend, the same score as Englishman Luke Donald, whose 69 was one of only four rounds under 70, and world No.1 Tiger Woods. Defending champion Vijay Singh was an early casualty, though, the Fijian shooting a second successive 75 to miss the cut by three. Singh is a four-time Barclays champion, with wins at Liberty National and Boston last year earning him the FedExCup title. Meanwhile, on the European Tour Paul Lawrie has a chance this weekend to achieve something which has even eluded Tiger Woods so far. Only two players – David J Russell in 1992 and Jesper Parnevik three years later – have ever gone through a European Tour event without dropping a stroke. Woods failed to join them on the very last hole of the 2002 American Express world championship at Mount Juliet in Ireland, but Lawrie is halfway there after adding a 69 to his opening 67 in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. The 40-year-old former Open champion, fighting for his Tour career a decade on from his Carnoustie triumph, stands eight under par and now leads by two from Northern Ireland rookie Jonathan Caldwell, Dutchman Maarten Lafeber and big-hitting Argentinian Daniel Vancsik. Wade Ormsby is the best of the Australians at three-under, equal with Kiwi Danny Lee in a tie for 15th place, while Michael Curtain and Stephen Leaney are a further stroke back. The Barclays Round 2 -8: Webb Simpson 66 68 -6: Paul Goydos 65 71, Steve Marino 65 71 -4: Fredrik Jacobson 66 72, Heath Slocum 66 72 -3: Ian Poulter 67 72, Steve Stricker 69 70, Richard S Johnson 68 71 -2: Charley Hoffman 66 74, Ernie Els 72 68 -1: Sergio Garcia 65 76, Matt Kuchar 68 73, Nick Watney 68 73, Tim Clark 71 70, D A Points 70 71, Rod Pampling (Australia) 68 73 Also: +1: Jason Day (Australia) 70 73, Robert Allenby (Australia) 68 75 +3: John Senden (Australia) 72 73 +4: James Nitties (Australia) 71 75 +5: Adam Scott (Australia) 75 72 +6: Nathan Green (Australia) 71 77 +8: Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 72 78, Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 73 77 +9: Marc Leishman (Australia) 74 77 +11: Nick O Hern (Australia) 76 77 +14: Greg Chalmers (Australia) 74 82 Johnnie Walker Championships Round 2 -8: Paul Lawrie 67 69 -6: Jonathan Caldwell 72 66, Maarten Lafeber 71 67, Daniel Vancsik 69 69 -5: Gregory Bourdy 70 69, Soren Hansen 69 70, Michael Jonzon 70 69, Shiv Kapur 69 70, Jose Maria Olazabal 71 68 -4: Phillip Archer 71 69, Jamie Donaldson 69 71, Peter Hedblom 72 68, Chinnarat Phadungsil 70 70, Danny Willett 69 71 -3: Ricardo Gonzalez 70 71, Raphael Jacquelin 72 69, Danny Lee (New Zealand) 71 70, John E Morgan 70 71, Ake Nilsson 68 73, Wade Ormsby (Australia) 68 73, Alexandre Rocha 72 69, Oliver Wilson 73 68 Also: -2: Michael Curtain (Australia) 72 70, Stephen Leaney (Australia) 71 71 -1: Scott Arnold (Australia) 71 72, Marcus Fraser (Australia) 70 73 +1: Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 74 71, Richard Green (Australia) 74 71, Matthew Millar (Australia) 69 76 +2: Terry Pilkadaris (Australia) 73 73 +3: Mark Brown (New Zealand) 73 74, Peter O Malley (Australia) 76 71 +5: Brett Rumford (Australia) 76 73 +8: Kane Webber (Australia) 76 76 +10: Scott Barr (Australia) 81 73