Q-School threat for Irish after Portugal misses

Kevin Phelan during round two on of the 2014 Portugal Masters on the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, Portugal. Picture Fran Caffrey www.golffile.ie

Gareth Maybin, Simon Thornton, Kevin Phelan and Peter Lawrie have two events to save their European Tour cards after missing the cut in the Portugal Masters.

Maybin (118th) is the closest to finishing in crucial Top 110 in the Race to Dubai who will be exempt for 2015 but is still nearly €20,00 adrift of 110th ranked Matthew Nixon with only the Hong Kong Open and the Perth International to come.

Thornton, whose exemption for winner in St Omer last year runs out at the end of this year is more than €80,000 off the pace in 144th while rookie Phelan is 152nd and more than €109,000 short.

As for Lawrie, who did not secure his card until the final event last season, he's more than €156,000 adrift of safety in 174th and needs another stunning finish to the season to avoid his first trip to Q-School since 2001.

David Higgins, who did not play in Portugal, is 197th in the Race to Dubai and would almost certainly have to win in Australia in the final regular season event unless he secures a spot in Hong Kong.

Maybin missed the three under par cut by two strokes in the weather-reduced Portugal Masters in Vilamoura after rounds of 71 and 70 while Phlean's brace of 71s left him three shots outside the pale alongside 2011 Open champion Darren Clarke.

Lawrie resumed his delayed second round on four over but while he made a courageous dash for the line and birdied the 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 17th to get to one under, he took six at the last and missed the cut by four after a 72.

Damien McGrane, who is safe at 91st in the Race to Dubai, finished on three over despite a 69 while Thornton's 70 left him a shot further back on four over.

At the top of the leaderboard, Alexander Levy of France will take a three shot lead into the third and final round despite not playing a single shot on day three.

Levy was one of only two groups to finish his second round on Friday evening, and his 18 under par total – thanks to sublime rounds of 63 and 61 – remained untouched as the rest of the field completed round two a day late.

Thunderstorms and heavy rain marred the second day’s play, causing the tournament to be reduced to 54 holes, and meant Nicolas Colsaerts, Levy’s closest challenger, had to return on Saturday morning to finish the last two holes of his round. He parred them both for a four under par 67 and a 15 under par total.

Felipe Aguilar signed for a seven under par 64, defying more heavy rain at Oceânico Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura, which has been bone dry for four months prior to this week. The Chilean is in third place on 13 under par.

Michael Hoey completed a four under 67 to finish on 10 under, leaving him tied for seventh, eight off the lead while Shane Lowry rediscovered his putting touch as he posted a five under 66 to finish in the pack on five under with Pádraig Harrington (66) tied for 47th on four under.

Paul McGinley was inside the top 30 with five holes to play but made double bogey sixes at the 14th and 18th for a 72 that saw him plummet 40 places to tied 58th on three under.

Portugal Masters, Oceanico Victoria (par 71) reduced to 54 holes

124 A Levy (Fra) 63 61, 

127 N Colsaerts (Bel) 60 67, 

129 F Aguilar (Chi) 65 64, 

131 R Wattel (Fra) 67 64, R Bland (Eng) 66 65, M Madsen (Den) 65 66, 

132 C Wood (Eng) 68 64, D Willett (Eng) 65 67, S Jamieson (Sco) 63 69, G Bourdy (Fra) 67 65, Michael Hoey (Nir) 65 67, 

133 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 64 69, T Aiken (RSA) 66 67, T Fleetwood (Eng) 68 65, A Otaegui (Esp) 63 70, P Waring (Eng) 67 66, 

134 T Jaidee (Tha) 67 67, J Hahn (USA) 67 67, G Storm (Eng) 69 65, R Gonzalez (Arg) 69 65, 

135 M Carlsson (Swe) 69 66, B Grace (RSA) 66 69, G Coetzee (RSA) 68 67, N Elvira (Esp) 67 68, E Grillo (Arg) 67 68, M Siem (Ger) 67 68, M Warren (Sco) 69 66, J Walters (RSA) 68 67, T Olesen (Den) 71 64, 

136 R Evans (Eng) 68 68, P Figueiredo (Por) 67 69, D Drysdale (Sco) 68 68, 

137 Shane Lowry (Irl) 71 66, R Fisher (Eng) 67 70, N Fasth (Swe) 69 68, P Larrazábal (Esp) 68 69, P Uihlein (USA) 69 68, J Kruger (RSA) 66 71, G Stal (Fra) 69 68, J Carlsson (Swe) 67 70, P Whiteford (Sco) 68 69, V Riu (Fra) 64 73, J Hansen (Den) 68 69, S Khan (Eng) 67 70, A Saddier (Fra) 70 67, S Webster (Eng) 71 66, 

138 D Brooks (Eng) 68 70, A Sullivan (Eng) 70 68, S Kjeldsen (Den) 72 66, M Crespi (Ita) 68 70, E De La Riva (Esp) 66 72, Pádraig Harrington (Irl) 72 66, R Derksen (Ned) 70 68, R Kakko (Fin) 68 70, F Zanotti (Par) 71 67, D Horsey (Eng) 69 69, L Bjerregaard (Den) 68 70, 

139 M Nixon (Eng) 73 66, R Gouveia (Por) 70 69, E Pepperell (Eng) 70 69, Paul McGinley (Irl) 67 72, D Lynn (Eng) 65 74, R Karlsson (Swe) 69 70, T Lewis (Eng) 72 67, J Singh (Ind) 72 67, T Hatton (Eng) 70 69, M Baldwin (Eng) 69 70, 

CUT

140 P Lawrie (Sco) 71 69, R Santos (Por) 71 69, J Parry (Eng) 70 70, C Doak (Sco) 65 75, A Wall (Eng) 71 69, L Slattery (Eng) 70 70, J Quesne (Fra) 68 72, F Molinari (Ita) 68 72, M Kieffer (Ger) 71 69, O Wilson (Eng) 72 68, S Benson (Eng) 69 71, M Ilonen (Fin) 70 70, 

141 S Kim (Kor) 74 67, Gareth Maybin (Nir) 71 70, D Howell (Eng) 70 71, M Manassero (Ita) 74 67, H Otto (RSA) 72 69, A Quiros (Esp) 69 72, C Del Moral (Esp) 74 67, S Hansen (Den) 70 71, G Havret (Fra) 73 68, 

142 B Wiesberger (Aut) 71 71, F Calmels (Fra) 71 71, Kevin Phelan (Irl) 71 71, J Campillo (Esp) 74 68, S Wakefield (Eng) 69 73, Darren Clarke (Nir) 71 71, D Fichardt (RSA) 69 73, K Broberg (Swe) 74 68, 

143 T Cruz (Por) 73 70, A Cañizares (Esp) 71 72, J Morrison (Eng) 71 72, Peter Lawrie (Irl) 71 72, 

144 H Santos (Por) 70 74, O Fisher (Eng) 74 70, A Pavan (Ita) 72 72, M Lundberg (Swe) 67 77, J Carlota (am) (Por) 73 71, T Silva (am) (Por) 72 72, 

145 S Dyson (Eng) 72 73, D McGrane (Irl) 76 69, C Lee (Sco) 75 70, J McLeary (Sco) 73 72, 

146 Simon Thornton (Irl) 76 70, T Pieters (Bel) 73 73, S Kapur (Ind) 76 70, D Huizing (Ned) 75 71, 

147 M Lampert (Ger) 74 73, 

148 R Rock (Eng) 74 74, J Jeong (Kor) 71 77, 

151 G Pinto (Por) 79 72, 

166 C Duan (Chn) 82 84, 

** S Manley (Wal) 71 DQ, M Foster (Eng) 71 RT, T Levet (Fra) 77 WD, J Olazábal (Esp) 72 DQ, R Jacquelin (Fra) 72 DQ, R Ramsay (Sco) 70 WD, R Green (Aus) 75 DQ,