SPANIARD'S BIRDIE-BIRDIE FINISH HOLDS
PETER WHITEFORD AT BAY

By Roddy Williams
Press Officer, European Challenge Tour
Spain’s Pablo Lazzarabal birdied the last two holes to retain the clubhouse lead in The Dutch Futures as he looks to claim his maiden European Challenge Tour victory at the Golfclub Houtrak on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
Larrazabal, the brother of 2002 British Amateur champion Alejandro, carded a two under par 70 for a 36 hole total of 138, six under par, and a one stroke lead over Scotland’s Peter Whiteford, who shot a 70.
England’s Matthew King and Frenchman Francois Delamontagne are a shot further back in the clubhouse but following earlier flooding to the course and a delay of almost two hours, over 40 players have still to complete their second rounds.
Larrazabal, the overnight leader, was steady for the first 16 holes, mixing three birdies with three bogeys, before edging past Whiteford with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes, his last two.
On the par-5 eighth he found the middle of the green with a drive and a four-iron and two putted for birdie and then followed that with a nine iron to 12 feet on the last which he duly converted to take the lead.
“It was a great round as conditions were tough with a lot of wind today,” said Larrazabal. “The course is long enough without all the rain and it is easy to drop shots so it was nice to finish strongly.”
The 24 year old from Barcelona is currently 71st on the Challenge Tour Ranking and is making the most of his invitation to play in The Netherlands. A top ten will guarantee a start next week and a strong weekend will ensure a good Challenge Tour category for next season and possibly elevate him into a position to challenge for one of the top 20 places on the Rankings.
Whiteford is his nearest challenger as he too chases his maiden professional victory. The Kirkcaldy man made three birdies with just one dropped shot on his way to a 70 and five under par halfway total of 139.
Holland’s rising star Joost Luiten, currently fifth on the Rankings, recovered from an opening 76 with a 70 to lie two over par.
After a couple of bad-weather delays, several players will report early Saturday morning to complete their second round.
Aberdonians Richie Ramsay and Scott Henderson are under pressure when they resume. Richie, who had a 76 in the first round, has six holes to play in his second. He is currently three over par overall. If he does no worse than par the last six holes, he will finish with a 71 for 147, which is the projected safety mark to beat the cut.
Henderson saddled himself with an opening 77. He has got back one of the shots dropped to par but is still four over par for the tournament with three holes to complete. He needs to birdie one of them and par the other two to salvage a 70 to hit the "magic" figure of 147.
COMPLETED SECOND ROUND TOTALS
138 P Larrazabal (Esp) 68 70.
139 P Whiteford (Sco) 69 70.
140 M King (Eng) 71 69, F Delamontagne (Fra) 70 70.
141 J Foret (Fra) 71 70.
142 A Grenier (Fra) 70 72, J Mellor (Eng) 72 70.
143 F Valera (Esp) 70, 73, M A Carlsson (Swe) 72, 71, P Nilbrink (Nor) 70, 73
144 S Manley (Wal) 76, 68, J-A Larsen (Nor) 70, 74, L Bond (Wal) 74, 70, A Salto (Esp) 74, 70, R Russell (Sco) 72, 72, M Maritz (RSA) 72, 72
145 J Clement (Swi) 75, 70, G Murray (Sco) 73, 72, R Swane (Ned) 73, 72, M Cort (Eng) 73, 72, M Thorp (Nor) 73, 72, K L Jorgensen (Den) 74, 71, J Abbate (Arg) 72, 73, T Dykes (Wal) 71, 74
Other scores:
146 E Little (Sco) 72 74.
147 D Drysdale (Sco) 76 71, D Patrick (Sco) 75 72, A Oldcorn (Sco) 72 75.
149 E Ramsay (Sco) 75 74.
150 J McLeary (Sco) 81 69.