Scotland lying sixth in World Cup qualifier

By MICHAEL GIBBONS, European Tour Press Officer
Wales were on spectacular form in the second round foursomes at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup European Qualifier in Estonia shooting an error free 66 to lead by two shots going into Saturday’s four-balls.
The Welsh team of Stephen Dodd and Jamie Donaldson had trailed Canada by one shot overnight but continued their run of good form shooting a blistering six under par 66 in the challenging foursomes format to take them to 12 under par, two clear of the Canadian duo of Graham DeLaet and Stuart Anderson, with Finland a further stroke back.
The foursomes format proved a tough one for most teams hoping to grab one of the three available spots to the Omega Mission Hills World Cup at the Estonian Golf and Country Club, with only nine nations recording under par scores for the day in relatively calm but very cold conditions.
The Finnish team of Toni Karjalainen and Juha-Pekka Peltomaki were a notable exception, shooting an impressive 68 to claim third place on their own having started the day in a tie for third with three other teams including host nation, Estonia.
Unfortunately the challenging nature of foursomes golf got the better of the Estonian team who dropped back from third place to eighth after a disappointing 75 to finish the day on two under.
Scotland ended the day in sixth place with a score of 71 to finish on four under following a disappointing day for them on the greens. David Drysdale and Alastair Forsyth will be hoping that the putts will drop in over the final two rounds.
Having declared after their opening round that they were more than capable of handling the foursomes format, Wales were delighted to have proved themselves right.
"We played nicely today”, said Dodd “We kept the ball in play and did all the right things out there.”
The Welsh duo made six birdies and no bogeys in what was an impressive display of foursomes golf. They have now played 36 hole without dropping a shot.
“It was a much better day for me today. Jamie continued to do what he does best, hitting some great iron shots, and we kept the ball in play. We missed the fairway on the 18th which made it difficult for ourselves but fortunately Jamie sank a crucial putt for par.”

SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Friday format: foursomes
Par 144 (2x72) 6,462yd.
+Top three teams after 72 holes qualify to play in World Cup.
132 Wales (Stephen DODD / Jamie DONALDSON) 66 66.
134 Canada (Graham DELAET / STUART ANDERSON)
135 Finland (Toni KARJALAINEN / Juha-Pekka PELTOMAKI) 67 68.
137 Austria (Michael A MOSER / Christophe BAUSEK)
138 Portugal (José-Filipe LIMA / António SOBRINHO)
140 Scotland (Alistair FORSYTH / David Drysdale) 69 71.
141 Slovenia (Janez GRILC / Miha STUDEN)
142 Estonia (Martin TOOM / Mark SUURSALU) 67 75.
143 Iceland (Sigurpall SVEINSSON / Bjorgvin SIGURBERGSSON)
144 Morocco (Armine JUDAR / Tarik BENSLIMANE)
145 Algeria (Mus DEBOUB / Farid GUERDA)
147 Switzerland (Jean-Luc BERNIER / Gerold BERCHTOLD)
149 Israel (Itamar COEN / Oren GERI), Serbia (Nemanja SAVIC / Danilo KRALJEVIC)
150 Poland (Maximillian SALUDA / Marcin STELMASIAK)
151 Namibia (M. Adri BASSON / Joe NAWANGA)
155 Croatia (Darko LUBANOVIC / Miro RAIC)
158 Greece (George DIAKOU / Eugenios PAPADOPOULOUS)