Peter Whiteford’s woes come to an end in

Kazakhstan with 67 after four missed cuts

By CHALLENGE TOUR PRESS OFFICER PAUL SYMES
Scotland’s Peter Whiteford, pictured, bounced back to form and banished the memory of four successive missed cuts with a round of 67 on day two of the €400,000 Kazakhstan Open.
Whiteford’s poor recent form has seen him slip down to 19th place in the Challenge Tour Rankings, and therefore in danger of missing out on promotion to The European Tour.
But after moving to nine under par and within one stroke of joint leaders Gary Boyd, Andrew Marshall and Edoardo Molinari, Whiteford is now in with a realistic chance of cementing his return to The European Tour at the first time of asking.
Despite an opening round of 68 and a front nine of 33 this morning, the Scot was, by his own frank admission, still struggling with his game – particularly off the tee, where he was battling with a tendency to pull his drives left.
With thick rough lining the fairways at the Arnold Palmer-designed Zhailjau Golf Resort in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Whiteford was becoming increasingly reliant on his powers of recovery to stay under par.
But after making an adjustment with his set-up on the back nine, the penny dropped and Whiteford can now look forward to a weekend which could make or break his season.
He said: “My game’s been pretty horrendous lately, and that continued yesterday. I shot a 68 in the rain which looks like a great score on paper, but I had to rely on a lot of up and downs – and I’m talking from about 60 yards, not just from the edge of the green! Even for the first ten or 12 holes of my round this morning, I still wasn’t feeling very comfortable. I was pulling everything left – and the further right I aimed right, the further left the ball went!
"But for the last five or six holes I made an adjustment – almost as a last resort – and it seems to have done the tick, because it was much more like the sort of golf I know I’m capable of producing.
“Before then, the confidence still wasn’t there, despite the fact that I was seven under par. For about a round and a half, I’d hardly hit a fairway. I’ve never had to battle so much – golf shouldn’t have to be that hard! The rough’s so tough in places, I couldn’t even reach the greens on some holes. So I’ve been having to rely on my short game, and fortunately it was in good order – particularly my putting.
"That’s the key for me – if I’m putting well, I feel I can win tournaments. So now I’m putting well and managing to keep my drives in play, I’m feeling a lot more positive about life. Hopefully I can keep it going for the next two days.”
Whiteford’s fellow Scots enjoyed mixed fortunes, with George Murray and Eric Ramsay both missing the cut after respective rounds of 73 and 76. But Andrew McArthur (two under par), Scott Jamieson, Jamie McLeary (both three under) and Lloyd Saltman (five under) will all feature over the weekend.
SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
134 G Boyd (Eng) 63 71, A Marshall (Eng) 71 63, E Molinari (Ita) 67 67,
135 S Thornton (Irl) 69 66, P Whiteford (Sco) 68 67,
136 C Gane (Eng) 70 66, P Gustafsson (Swe) 69 67, C Russo (Fra) 70 66, J Clément (Sui) 67 69, G Paddison (Nzl) 69 67
137 M Zions (Aus) 68 69
138 S Saavedra (Arg) 70 68, J Morrison (Eng) 68 70, J Quesne (Fra) 71 67, O Floren (Swe) 66 72,
139 J Grillon (Fra) 70 69, B Mason (Eng) 69 70, D Denison (Eng) 70 69, M Wiegele (Aut) 69 70, M Haastrup (Den) 73 66, L Saltman (Sco) 67 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 68,
140 A Gee (Eng) 72 68, R Steiner (Aut) 71 69, R Davies (Wal) 72 68, S Bebb (Wal) 74 66, J Olesen (Den) 72 68, J Zapata (Arg) 74 66, S Tiley (Eng) 71 69, A Wagner (Arg) 73 67,
141 S Juul (Den) 72 69, J McLeary (Sco) 71 70, Z Scotland (Eng) 72 69, S Davis (Eng) 69 72, S Jamieson (Sco) 74 67, A Tampion (Aus) 69 72, B Pettersson (Swe) 70 71, C Moriarty (Irl) 71 70, B Evans (Eng) 69 72,
142 P Kaensche (Nor) 73 69, B Alvarado (Chi) 72 70, C Brazillier (Fra) 74 68, L Bond (Wal) 71 71, N Smith (USA) 66 76, A McArthur (Sco) 70 72, J Lima (Por) 69 73, D Griffiths (Eng) 72 70, A Kaleka (Fra) 71 71, J Sjöholm (Swe) 71 71, T Carolan (Aus) 68 74,
143 D Hewan (RSA) 71 72, S Surry (Eng) 75 68, P Baker (Eng) 72 71, G Shaw (Nir) 70 73, D Wardrop (Eng) 70 73, A Bernadet (Fra) 72 71, F Colombo (Ita) 72 71, A Snobeck (Fra) 74 69, S Manley (Wal) 73 70, C Carranza (Arg) 75 68, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 72, A Ahokas (Fin) 70 73, B Hebert (Fra) 73 70, M Tullo (Chi) 70 73, P Golding (Eng) 73 70
MISSED THE CUT
144 R Treis (Ger) 76 68, C Suneson (Esp) 74 70, A Grenier (Fra) 71 73, R Santos (Por) 72 72, J Abbate (Arg) 74 70, N Colsaerts (Bel) 72 72, F Calmels (Fra) 69 75, R Karlberg (Swe) 70 74, A Willey (Eng) 74 70, B Miarka (Ger) 68 76,
145 M Reale (Ita) 73 72, R Steele (Eng) 74 71, J Billot (Fra) 70 75, C Rodiles (Esp) 72 73, T Feyrsinger (Aut) 69 76, T Ferreira (RSA) 70 75, L James (Eng) 69 76, J Colomo (Esp) 72 73,
146 G Molteni (Ita) 73 73, S Hutsby (Eng) 75 71, C Günther (Ger) 74 72, R McEvoy (Eng) 71 75, N Meitinger (Ger) 74 72, G Houston (Wal) 74 72, K Sullivan (Wal) 73 73, N Vanhootegem (Bel) 74 72, J Guerrier (Fra) 71 75,
147 J Moul (Eng) 73 74, R Coles (Eng) 72 75, L Gagli (Ita) 74 73, A Högberg (Swe) 77 70, A Butterfield (Eng) 75 72, G Murray (Sco) 74 73,
148 J Arruti (Esp) 74 74, T Whitehouse (Eng) 75 73, J Granberg (Fin) 73 75,
149 L Westerberg (Swe) 75 74, F Praegant (Aut) 74 75, J Larsen (Nor) 69 80, J Heath (Eng) 77 72
150 D Froreich (Ger) 75 75, A Bossert (Sui) 74 76, S Robinson (Eng) 74 76, M Pilkington (Wal) 74 76, S Jeppesen (Swe) 77 73, T Cruz (Por) 72 78, V Riu (Fra) 76 74,
151 L Kennedy (Eng) 77 74, R De Sousa (Sui) 76 75, J Parry (Eng) 77 74, J Sköld (Swe) 78 73, A Hansen (Den) 78 73,
153 E Ramsay (Sco) 77 76, D Küpper (Ger) 80 73,
154 J Wahlqvist (Swe) 79 75, R Harris (Eng) 76 78,
155 D Nouailhac (Fra) 79 76, Å Nilsson (Swe) 85 70, K Jorgensen (Den) 80 75,
159 K Lifanov (Rus) 79 80,
165 A Lagay (Kaz) 84 81,
169 E Bashikov (am) (Kaz) 83 86,
171 K Kang Byung (am) (Kaz) 88 83,
187 A Vongay (Kaz) 99 88, N Makulbekov (am) (Kaz) 95 92,
188 A Muhamedjanov (am) (Kaz) 98 90,
** J Caldwell (Nir) 72 DQ,