FIFER'S GREAT EFFORT IN BID TO KEEP EUROPEAN TOUR CARD

 Peter Whiteford pictured on his way to a repeat 66 in Australia. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c).

PETER WHITEFORD LEADS AFTER


BACK-TO-BACK SIX-UNDER 66s
   
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Kirkcaldy-born Peter Whiteford put himself in position for a last ditch effort to keep his European Tour card by taking the halfway lead at 12-under-par 132 with back-to-back rounds of 66 in the ISPS HANDA Perth International in West Australia.
Lying 149th on The Race to Dubai at the start of the week and needing a top two finish in Western Australia to force his way into the top 111 to retain his playing privileges for next season, the 34-year-old Scot, who plays out of the Wellsgreen Driving Range and was Scottish U16 boys' champion in 1996 (the same year his older brother Stewart was Scottish U18 boys' match-play champion), soared into the lead at Lake Karrinyup Country Club with an eagle on the seventh, his 16th, followed by two pars for a back nine of 31..
That carried him past overnight joint leader, Thorbjørn Olesen of Denmark, with Sihwan Kim of South Korea, another player needing a top two to avoid a trip to the Qualifying School, a further shot back in third place.
Yet another Scot on the bubble, Edinburgh-born 39-year-old David Drysdale, is also in the mix at nine under par alongside England’s James Morrison, whose second-round, nine-birdie 63 set a course record.
Olesen, who at 64th on The Race to Dubai is looking to move into the top 60 ahead of next month’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, held the lead for much of the day after following is opening 64 with a 69 until Whiteford stole pole position late on.
Only the top 111 on The Race to Dubai at close of play on Sunday will retain their playing privileges for 2015.

KEY QUOTES

PETER WHITEFORD
“It’s now no holds barred.  Win or bust.
“I am very nervous.  There's no doubt about that.  I’ve got to just keep attacking.  I don't want to go back to Q School.  Nobody does.  But I get what I deserve in this game, and I've been awful all year. It's nice that the form is coming back later on in the year.
“Played great.  Kind of felt like I got what I deserved.  Not often you say that in golf.  You're always thinking you could've done better.  But that eagle sort of made me feel a lot better.”

THORBJORN OLESEN
“It's always tough to come back after a great round.   But I felt like I played solid out there.  I gave myself a lot of chances for birdie, especially on the front nine.  Had a few lip-outs, but the pins were a little bit trickier today and it made to a bit trickier with the putter.   So I'm happy with the way I played.  Hit a lot of greens and that's important here.
“My save on 17 I think was very important.  That up and down from the bunker was a tricky shot and I played it beautifully.   The last three holes were key.”

+The only Scots who did not survive the halfway cut at one-under-par 143 were Alastair Forsyth (73-73) and Chris Doak (74-72), both on 146.
Aberdeen-born, Australian-raised Michael Sim plummeted from a first-round 66 to a 77 but just made it through to the weekend action on the 143 mark.
HALFWAY SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
132 P Whiteford (Sco) 66 66,
133 T Olesen (Den) 64 69
134 S Kim (SKor) 66 68
135 J Morrison  (Eng) 72 63, D Drysdale (Sco) 67 68
136 R Green (Aus) 68 68, J Wade (Aus) 64 72
137 C Schwartzel  (RSA) 68 69
138 V Dubuisson  (Fra) 71 67, J Nitties (Aus) 69 69, M Fraser (Aus) 68 70
139 J Hansen  (Den) 71 68, J Younger (Aus) 69 70, R Fox (Nzl) 69 70, S Dartnall (Aus) 68 71, B Rumford (Aus) 67 72, S Wakefield (Eng) 72 67,
140 J Quesne  (Fra) 67 73, R Bland (Eng) 68 72, G Stal  (Fra) 69 71, M Foster (Eng) 67 73, P Uihlein  (USA) 69 71, D McGrane (Irl) 70 70, R Haller (Aus) 71 69, J Dufner (USA) 70 70, C Rice (Aus) 68 72, D McKenzie (Aus) 70 70, M Griffin (Aus) 67 73, J Norris (Aus) 71 69, P Spargo (Aus) 70 70, W Ormsby (Aus) 72 68, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 71, R Gibson (Aus) 70 70, T Lewis (Eng) 66 74,
141 L Bjerregaard  (Den) 71 70, J Scrivener (Aus) 67 74, P O'Malley (Aus) 72 69, J McLeary  (Sco) 70 71, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 70, K Phelan (Irl) 72 69, G Bourdy (Fra) 69 72, J Parry (Eng) 69 72, D Bransdon (Aus) 69 72, D Huizing (Ned) 68 73, A Pavan (Ita) 71 70, N Holman  (Aus) 73 68, M Nixon (Eng) 70 71, S Manley (Wal) 73 68, J Doherty  (Sco) 69 72
142 O Goss (Aus) 68 74, R Gonzalez (Arg) 68 74, N Elvira  (Esp) 71 71, N Green (Aus) 71 71, C Lee (Sco) 73 69, N Gillespie (Nzl) 71 71
143 S Jamieson  (Sco) 69 74, J Heath  (Eng) 72 71, G Chalmers (Aus) 70 73, M Long (Nzl) 69 74, M Sim  (Aus) 66 77, C Del Moral (Esp) 71 72, S Bowditch (Aus) 73 70, S Hansen (Den) 72 71, R Kakko  (Fin) 72 71, S Jeffress (Aus) 74 69, M Carlsson  (Swe) 67 76, B Ninyette (Aus) 69 74, A Brown (Aus) 68 75, D Nisbet  (Aus) 71 72
MISSED THE CUT
144 N Cullen (Aus) 71 73, M McCardle (Aus) 71 73, A Gee  (Eng) 74 70, J Knutzon (USA) 71 73, S Jones (Aus) 72 72, J Campillo (Esp) 72 72, B Paolini (USA) 72 72, G Maybin (Nir) 71 73, M Pearce (Nzl) 70 74, M Jager (Aus) 71 73, A Stolz (Aus) 73 71
145 A Otaegui  (Esp) 70 75, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 75, O Fisher  (Eng) 71 74, M Wright (Aus) 71 74, P Cooke (Aus) 71 74, J Higginbottom (Aus) 68 77, M Kieffer (Ger) 72 73, A Wall (Eng) 70 75, B Campbell (Nzl) 71 74, G Ogilvy (Aus) 73 72, S Strange (Aus) 72 73, A Townsend (Aus) 71 74, B Macpherson  (Aus) 72 73
146 A Martin (Aus) 72 74, D Klein  (Nzl) 72 74, S Leaney (Aus) 72 74, A Forsyth (Sco) 73 73, A Hartø  (Den) 73 73, E Molinari  (Ita) 70 76, A Summers (Aus) 73 73, C Campbell (Aus) 70 76, C Doak (Sco) 74 72, L Slattery (Eng) 76 70, J Walters (RSA) 75 71
147 V Riu  (Fra) 73 74, D Popovic (Aus) 75 72, A Stephens (Aus) 74 73, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 72 75, J Jeong (SKor) 72 75, P Fowler (Aus) 71 76
148 G Havret  (Fra) 74 74, S Houston (Aus) 72 76, M Millar (Aus) 73 75, A Kaleka  (Fra) 71 77, R Santos  (Por) 70 78, R Lee (Nzl) 74 74
149 D Horsey (Eng) 77 72, D Im (USA) 72 77, J Lara (Esp) 76 73, S Laycock (Aus) 72 77, C Parry (Aus) 74 75
150 L McKechnie (Aus) 73 77, J Wilson (Aus) 74 76, J Geary  (Nzl) 72 78, C O'Reilly (Aus) 77 73, M Perry (Nzl) 74 76
151 M Giles (Aus) 76 75, R Lynch (Aus) 75 76, D McKendrick (Aus) 76 75
152 M Ballard (Aus) 75 77, T Pieters  (Bel) 79 73, G Paddison (Nzl) 77 75, R Kulacz (Aus) 77 75, P Lawrie (Irl) 75 77, L Deagan (Aus) 76 76
153 M Brown (Nzl) 77 76, R Blizard (Aus) 72 81, A Hall (Aus) 76 77
154 E De La Riva  (Esp) 76 78, A Saddier (Fra) 77 77 155 L Zhiqun (Sin) 78 77
156 S Webster (Eng) 74 82
158 T Bond (Aus) 80 78

 Withdrew: D Willett  (Eng) 73 WD,
 

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