Whiteford snatches Perth halfway lead

BY BRENDAN JAMES at LAKE KARRINYUP

Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen spent the afternoon lazing on a beach happy in the knowledge he would be playing in the last group on Saturday at the ISPS Handa Perth International.

He probably thought he’d be doing so as tournament leader. Not so.

Peter Whiteford needs to win or finish second to keep his Tour card. PHOTO: Getty Images

With a three under 69 to go with his eight under 64 in the opening round, the 24-year-old left the Lake Karrinyup course early in the afternoon with a one-shot lead over the field and a beach towel under his arm.

His lead remained intact for hours … then Scotland’s Peter Whiteford, playing in the fourth last group hitting off the 10^th tee, went on a tear on his back nine – carding three birdies and an eagle at the par-5 7^th to storm home in 31 and finish with a second consecutive round of 66. It was enough to grab the halfway lead by a shot from Olesen.

“I was disappointed maybe to not take a few chances today, so that eagle kind of made up for a couple of things today,” Whiteford said.

Whiteford is walking a tightrope in Perth. He needs to win or finish runner up to keep his European Tour playing card.

“Yep…it’s no holds barred. Win or bust,” he said.

“I got to just keep attacking … yeah, 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.

“You just got to do what you can do. If I can hold up, then great. I need to win. It's not a matter of I would like to win. I need to try to keep my job.”

Earlier in the day, Olesen looked rock solid and he quickly moved to 10 under with early birdies on the 13^th and 14^th holes, his fourth and fifth holes of the day.

His first bogey came at the difficult par-4 18^th hole when he missed the fairway from the tee. A birdie at the par-5 7^th pulled that dropped shot back. A good up-and-down from the greenside bunker on the par-3 8^th was followed by another close-range birdie at his final hole.

“It's always tough to come back after a great round. To shoot another good round is tough,” Olesen said.

“But I felt like I played solid out there. 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 it a bit trickier with the putter.

“So I'm happy with the way I played. I hit a lot of greens and that's important here.”

Olesen’s closing birdie for 69 nudged him one stroke clear of South Korea’s Sihwan Kim, who is playing under the same added pressure as Whiteford. He knows he must finish in the top-two at Lake Karrinyup to keep his European Tour card for 2015.

Kim, who is currently 138^th on the Race to Dubai standings and needs to leave Perth on Sunday night higher than 111^th, grabbed the outright lead midway through day two with five birdies – at the 1^st, 9^th, 10^th, 12^th and 13^th – before a bogey at the 18^th hole surrendered the lead. But the 26-year-old said he was still satisfied with his four under 68.

“Obviously bogeying the last hole sucks, but the way I played and the amount of putts and up and downs I made on the course, yeah, I'm satisfied,” he said.

He says he’s not feeling the pressure of having to win or be runner-up to keep his Tour card.

“I have to either win or runner-up Cup. That's my only two options,” he said.

“It's not like I don't care, but whatever happens. Golf is a tough game. Anything can happen out there. So I don't have too much focus on that.”

James Morrison turned his back on a promising cricket career to pursue golf. PHOTO: Getty Images

The biggest move of day 2 came from Englishman James Morrison who backed up his even par opening round with a course record nine under 63, breaking the mark set just 24 hours earlier by Victorian John Wade and Olesen, to be three shots of the lead heading into the third round.

The 29-year-old, who started his second round on the back nine, was one under through his first five holes before reeling off three consecutive birdies and a par at his ninth hole to make the turn in 32. He was done though. Another birdie at the par-5 3^rd hole saw him move to five under before another incredible string of four birdies propelled him to nine under.

Morrison, who has not won on the European Tour since claiming the Madeira Islands Open in Portugal in 2010, needs to finish in the top-two at Lake Karrinyup to crack a spot in the European Tour’s top-70 who continue on in the Race to Dubai finals starting in China next week. He currently sits in 99^th place.

“I need a top two or it’s home time,” Morrison said.

If not for a double bogey on his final hole in the opening round he would be sharing the lead heading into the weekend.

Morrison was a relative late-comer to golf having played cricket for most of his teen years. He didn’t start playing golf until he was 16 and slashed his handicap from 18 to scratch in less than a year. He played county cricket for Surrey, alongside English captain Alistair Cook, until he was 17 before giving it away for golf.

“I guess like most golfers, playing cricket from so young, six years old competitively, got to a point where I wasn't really enjoying it,” Morrison said. “Came late to golf and got better quickly and I just really enjoyed it. So I'm in the field for a two-day game against Essex looking around thinking I want to play golf.

“It got to the point it was time to make a decision. My dad supported me, and that was it really.”

Part of that decision also involved coming to Australia, while still an amateur, in 2005 and honing his game on the Melbourne Sandbelt, as a pennant player for Waverley Golf Club.

“We were division 2 at the time. I think we won division 2 that year to go to division 1 for the first time in history,” Morrison recounted. “I go back and play there all the time (his wife is from Melbourne).

“Made some great friends at Waverley. Always try and good back and say hello.

Richard Green was the best of the Australians on day two. PHOTO: Getty Images

“In our league was Northern, Kingston Heath and Commonwealth … a few of those sort of clubs.”

The best of the Australians in the second round was Richard Green, who repeated his opening score of 68, similarly with six birdies and two bogies.

Currently sitting 77^th in the Race to Dubai rankings, Green says he is focused on having a good finish this week to ensure he progresses deep into the next four weeks of big money events.

“I've got to push forward a little bit,” Green said. “I've come here this week with kind of the expectation to get a result and give myself as good a chance as I can.

“I want to be there at the end this year and make the most of those couple tournaments at the end of the year. It would be a nice finish to the year on a high and start obviously next year with good confidence.”

First round co-leader Wade couldn’t find the bottom of the cup as easily as he did on Thursday but was still very steady with two bogies offset by two birdies for his even par 72 and is tied sixth at eight under. He will play with South African Charl Schwartzel (-7) and Frenchman Victor Dubuisson (-6) in the third last group for the third round.

The 36-hole cut was one under, with both Steven Bowditch and Michael Sim making birdies at their final hole to scrape into the weekend. Geoff Ogilvy was not so fortunate, he missed the cut by two strokes.

LEADERBOARD

1. Peter Whiteford (Scot) 66-66–132

2. Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 64-69–133

3. Sihwan Kim (S.Kor) 66-68–134

T4. James Morrison (Eng) 72-63–135

T4. David Drysdale (Scot) 67-68–135

T6. Richard Green (Vic) 68-68–136

T6. John Wade (Vic) 64-72–136

8. Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 68-69–137

T9. Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 71-67–138

T9. Marcus Fraser (Vic) 68-70–138

T9. James Nitties (NSW) 69-69–138

• For the full leaderboard, click here