England’s Tom Whitehouse defied the strong winds that swept across Southern Spain to increase his lead in the European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage at San Roque after a one under par 71 took him two clear of fellow Englishmen David Griffiths and Robert Rock.
On a day where only 20 players broke par, and only six broke 70, Whitehouse remained controlled as he cemented his position at the top of the leaderboard on nine under par 279. The 25 year old Midlander picked up an impressive four birdies in his first 15 holes and, despite dropping successive shots at the 16th and 17th on the Old Course at San Roque, continues to set the pace.
Whitehouse, who already has Category 11 Membership of The European Tour after finishing 17th on the Challenge Tour Rankings, only entered the Qualifying School late in the day after deciding he could potentially improve his category with a good finish and he continues to justify his decision to come.
“I played great today,” admitted Whitehouse. “I just let myself down on the last couple of holes. I didn’t quite strike it properly on the 16th and then hit my only bad shot of the day on the 17th . Other than that I was solid – my first 15 holes were immaculate.”
Much of the credit goes to his father who has been caddieing for him, especially in helping him read the putts. “He’s made a couple of really good reads on some putts this week,” said the younger Whitehouse. “He might be a 15 handicapper and the worst ball striker you’ve ever seen but he is a really good putter and he never looks at the line! He can’t hit, can’t chip, but get him on the green and he is deadly.”
Rock, who like Whitehouse is attached to The De Vere Belfry, also broke par round the Old Course, mixing five birdies with four bogeys to lie on seven under par 281 while Griffiths shot a steady level par 72 to join him on that mark.
But while those at the top of the leaderboard now have everything to play for in the final push for one of the top 30 cards which will earn them a place on The 2006 European Tour International Schedule, there was heartache for half the field as the cut fell on nine over par. A total of 84 players progressed to the final two rounds which will be played first over the New Course and then over the Old.
Gregory Bourdy of France was one of the unluckiest when he was disqualified after signing for a wrong score. At level par he was comfortably in the top ten but an incident on the 17th green cost him dear. As he replaced his ball on the green the wind blew his ball about an inch but rather than playing the ball from its new position, he incorrectly replaced the ball in the original spot which would have incurred a two stroke penalty. Unfortunately for the Frenchman he didn’t raise this until after he signed his card and as such was disqualified for signing for the wrong score and his tournament was over.
Ryder Cup vice-captain Peter Baker and fellow Ryder Cup player Philip Walton also bowed out of the arena although in both cases the damage had been done earlier in the week. Baker was always fighting a battle after losing three balls in his first four holes in the first round and never recovered.
“The last three or four months I have been playing a bit better,” said Baker. “This week has been a real kick in the teeth. I’m very disappointed about it. I felt good and everything was great coming into the week. Two tee shots later I made things difficult for myself. I really thought I would have a good week and certainly prepared for it but never got going.”
Another tournament winner, Roger Chapman, who is second in the list of most appearances on The European Tour with 615, also missed the cut as did other European Tour champions Warren Bennett, Staurt Cage, Tobias Dier, Marc Farry, Jarrod Moseley, Van Phillips, Dean Robertson and Sven Strüver.
