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Peter Lawrie signed off on a second round 71 at the Portugal Masters and then packed his bags for in Vilamoura ahead of a long trip to Perth, in Western Australia, in a last chance to retain his automatic playing rights for next year.
An opening round of 77 on Thursday ended any hopes of much needed prize money this week in the quest to improve his current 111th place in the Race to Dubai, which leaves him one spot outside the line. And perhaps needing to return to Qualifying School next month. A contrast to last season when he finished in 48th with earnings of over €600K
Shane Lowry also missed the cut and failed to defend his title after a bogey at the par-five 17th ended his hopes on Friday. It was the English duo of Paul Waring and David Lynn and South African Hennie Otto set the pace on 12 under at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course.
Lowry won his first European Tour event as a professional last year and started with back-to-back birdies before he dropped further shots at the sixth and seventh to slip out to three over for the tournament.
He then hit a hot streak of five birdies in his next seven holes to move one shot inside the cut on two under before the six on the penultimate hole left him requiring a birdie on the last. Lowry had an opportunity but left his attempt short to end his stay on the Algarve.
Playing in the same group, Waring and Otto recorded 14 birdies and one eagle between them – Waring returning a flawless 63 and Otto a 64.
In the mix also is overnight leader Simon Thornton, but was unable to match his opening day 65 and so dropped four strokes back after carding a second round 69.
Lynn, still struggling with the virus which affected him during last week’s Seve Trophy, had shared the overnight lead on six under and late in the day carded his second consecutive 65 with four birdies and an eagle from just six feet on the par-five 12th.
Waring, who enjoyed the first top-five finish of his European Tour career in the Spanish Open in April and has had three more top-10s since, said: “I think the lovely weather’s had a bit of a hand in it. I played nice, kept control of my golf ball well, hit it close a few times and holed a few putts.
“I’ve been playing better for the last few months; I lost by one in Valencia, two in Gleneagles, been knocking on the door a few times so it’s nice to keep myself in contention week on week.”
Waring, playing on a medical exemption after an operation on a serious wrist injury, is currently 86th on the Race to Dubai and added: “If I can get into one of these big four events (the inaugural Final Series) at the end of the season that would be great.
“I am not going to put too much pressure on myself, I’ve had a medical (exemption) all year so it’s nice to get back into a proper category for next year.”
Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger completed a 65 to lie one shot off the lead on 11 under alongside Scotland’s Chris Doak, who had five birdies and an eagle in his flawless 64 and is yet to drop a shot this week.
Paul McGinley fired a 66 to stay on for the weekend on 3 under with David Higgins one stroke further adrift.
However Michael Hoey, Damien McGrane and Gareth Maybin missed the cut.
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