July 16, 2011 -- Updated 1248 GMT (2048 HKT)
World number one Luke Donald reacts to another disappointing shot as he missed the British Open cut.
(CNN) -- The top two players in the world, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, failed to make the cut in the British Open at Royal St George's, Sandwich, on a bad day for England's leading golfers.
Westwood carded a 73 for a four-over-par total of 144, while Donald finished with four successive birdies as he posted a 75 to finish on six-over-par 146.
And the pair were joined in making an early exit by Ian Poulter, who followed-up his opening 69 with an eight-over-par 78 to crash out on a seven-over-par 147 total.
Clarke and Glover share halfway British Open lead
With three of England's top four players heading home early, it was left to Paul Casey to buck the trend for the host nation, with his one-under-par 69 ensuring he just made the cut on three-over-par.
England's leading quartet have not won a single major tournament between them and world No.1 Donald summed up the mood, telling reporters: "I am very disappointed not to be here for the weekend.
"I believe in my ability but for whatever reason it's just not happened for me at the last two majors," he continued.
"I feel like I have tried everything -- I've been playing 10 years and played countless majors and come close a couple of times but I have to figure out a way to contend a bit more," added Donald -- who entered the tournament in top form after winning last week's Scottish Open warm-up event in Inverness.
Only 71 of the 156-strong field will return for the final two holes and Donald and Westwood were not the only big names and former champions to head home early.
Among the other top players to depart are European Ryder Cup star Francesco Molinari, former Masters champion Angel Cabrera, last year's U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell, Italian prodigy Matteo Manassero and 2006 U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia.
Meanwhile former British Open winners Sandy Lyle (1985), John Daly (1995), Justin Leonard (1997), Mark O'Meara (1998), Marc Calcavecchia (1999), David Duval (2001), Ernie Els (2002), Ben Curtis (2003), Todd Hamilton (2004) and Padraig Harrington (2007/2008) also missed out for the final two days.
This means only four former champions Tom Lehman (1996), Paul Lawrie (1999), Stewart Cink (2009) and holder Louis Oosthuizen can claim the famous claret jug again.
Credit: CNN (www.cnn.com)
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