Olazabal eyes late flourish

Jose Maria Olazabal aims to end a miserable season on a high note in the rain-shortened Turespana Majorca Classic.

Olazabal has enjoyed just two top-10 finishes in America and one in Europe in 2003 – but he goes into the third and final round at Pula Golf Club just one shot off the lead.

The €411,000 event was reduced to 54 holes when more torrential rain overnight and this morning meant it was not possible to start play until 4.30pm local time.

That allowed Olazabal and the rest of the field to complete their delayed second rounds, the double US Masters champion playing his remaining five holes in one under par to card a second-round 69.

At five under par the Spaniard is one shot off the lead held by Welshman David Park, who completed his 64 yesterday morning before the afternoon thunderstorm which disrupted the later starters.

Pre-tournament favourite Lee Westwood also carded a 69 – but at one over par he is seven off the pace.

“My goal was to get into the Volvo Masters but also to get some feel back in my game,” said Olazabal, who lies 60th in the Order of Merit with only the top 60 qualifying to play at Valderrama.

“I don’t feel in control of the swing, which is a little handicap.

“All year long I’ve been fighting a hook with my irons, and the double bogey on the 13th yesterday was caused by one of them. It’s a question of what happens tomorrow – but so far I’ve done a pretty good job with it.

“It was a tough day today. I was up at 6am and went to hit balls and then was told it was a one-hour delay – then another hour, then another, and you don’t know what to do.

“It’s quite hard to be prepared by the time you get to the tee, and I was a little shaky on the 14th tee when we started again. It’s one of the toughest holes on the course. But I managed to play the hole well, and that calmed me down.”

Westwood felt it was the right choice to cut the event to 54 holes, even though that significantly reduces his chances of his third win in eight weeks.

“I don’t think anybody wants it to go into Monday, and it’s just one of those things that you can’t control,” said the former European number one.

“We got the tough side of the draw, so it was tough to make an impression. Apart from the first hole I don’t think I holed a putt longer than three feet, and you’re never going to tear it up like that.

“I’ll have to go out and attack. But it’s very difficult to attack all the way round when there are so many out-of-bounds close to the fairways and greens - you could come unstuck that way.”

Ireland's Damien McGrane, in the last group on the course, later claimed a share of second place alongside Olazabal with birdies at two of his final three holes.

That gave the first round leader a second round 71 and five under total of 135, and with it the chance of avoiding a second straight visit to the qualifying school.

The 32-year-old from County Wexford, who lies 142nd on the Order of Merit and needs to move into the top 115 to retain his card, said: “It’s all to play for.

“I need to hole a few more putts but I have every chance of winning it. I played steady today, it was really hard with the weather the way it was. It felt like the longest round of my life."