By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent, Minnesota

The majors have come and gone for another year for former European number ones Colin Montgomerie and Lee Westwood - and they will not care to remember how they ended.

Montgomerie shot 78 yesterday to miss the halfway cut at the United States PGA championship at Hazeltine National.

But that was still five strokes better than Westwood.

"I had just one birdie in two days and that speaks for itself," said Montgomerie as he finished the event eight over par.

"It's been frustrating. I'm just not holing putts."

Fourteenth in the Masters in April, Montgomerie has had a summer to forget - except for his brilliant course record 64 in the Open at Muirfield last month.

That dream second round was followed by a nightmare 84 and a closing 75 meant he dropped to 82nd.

But it is the two majors in which he has done best in the past that were the complete write-offs for the 39-year-old Scot.

At the US Open twice runner-up Montgomerie missed the cut for the first time in his career and now at the PGA, the event in which he lost a play-off in 1995, he could not make it into the weekend either.

Westwood did not even qualify for the US Open and has crashed out early of both the Open and US PGA as his slump continues.

Fourth in the world 15 months ago, the 29-year-old is now 139th and his 83 yesterday was his worst round of the season by four strokes.

He finished 14 over - and was five over just for the 402-yard 16th, where he followed a double bogey six in the first round with a triple bogey seven on his return.

Westwood, whose last victory was in October 2000, now has only a handful of chances left to find some form going into the Ryder Cup at The Belfry in six weeks.

Two other members of the European team, Niclas Fasth and Phillip Price, were down and out near the rear of the field as well on 12 over and 15 over respectively - Price after also scoring 83.

Four more were in severe danger of joining them on the sidelines when the second round resumed today after last night's lightning halted play.

The halfway cut looked almost certain to fall at four over. Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn were waiting in the clubhouse at five over, Clarke after two closing bogeys, while Dubliner Paul McGinley was six over with four holes to save himself and Jesper Parnevik was eight over playing the 16th.