Lawrie on track but Higgins suffers card blow in Perth

Local hero Brett Rumford is chasing his third win of the season in the ISPS Handa Perth International. Picture © Getty ImagesPeter Lawrie is on track to retain his European Tour card in Australia but a third round 74 leaves David Higgins needing a hot finish in the ISPS Handa Perth International in avoid another trip to Q-School.

While Michael Hoey (69) has no such worries and goes into the final round just three shots behind Western Australian Brody Ninyette on five under, Higgins faces his toughest round since he came through the six-round Q-School test in Spain nearly 12 months ago.

Tied for 58th place on three over par, the 40 year old Waterville man almost certainly now needs a closing 68 a a top 25 finish to have realistic shot at finishing in the top 110 who keep their cards.

Lawrie shot a level par 72 to slip just four places to joint 25th on one under, leaving him on course to pocket around €13,768, which would be more than enough to ensure the 2003 Rookie of the Year a 12th successive season on the main tour.

Lawrie has John “Ronnie Corbett” Roberts on the bag this week, the caddie who helped Australia’s Brett Rumford to two wins on the European Tour already this season.

The Perth man has enlisted the help of his brother on the bag in his home town and he’s looking good for a third win of the year after a brilliant, course record-equalling 65 around Lake Karrinyup Country Club catapulted him into three-way tie for second.

Rumford carded his seven under par effort in the most difficult conditions of the week to charge up the leaderboard into a share of second place, one stroke behind his fellow Western Australian Ninyette heading into the final round.

Ninyette was another player to shine in the wind and rain as he posted a fine 67 to move to eight under and one clear of Rumford, Denmark’s JB Hansen (66) and South Korean former World Amateur Number One Jin Jeong (69).

Ninyette, meanwhile, is hoping to spoil Rumford’s party to secure what would be a life-changing victory and a two-year exemption on The European Tour.

“Being able to play in Europe next year would be massive,” said the 26 year old. “It would be amazing.  It would be a whole new experience, getting out there and playing over there would be unreal to see how the world’s best do it.”

While the battle for the Perth International will take centre stage on Sunday, the fight to see which players can keep their playing rights for 2014 will enter the final round with many of the players in need of a huge finish on the upper echelons of the leaderboard.

Richard Finch and Fredrik Andersson Hed are among those players tied for fifth place on six under (along with Ross Fisher) and need to finish fourth and third respectively to survive, while Joel Sjoholm, who needs second place or better, is just a one stroke further back alongside Tour winners Hoey and Danny Willet.

Despite a disappointing third round 75 which saw him fall back to four under, second round leader Peter Hedblom is not quite dead yet. The Swede, who needs to win to keep his tour card, will need to produce the performance of a lifetime to claim the ultimate prize, while Oliver Fisher, currently tied 17th on three under needs to finish in the top seven to succeed.

As for Hoey, he said: “I didn’t hit the ball great but I am still putting well. If I continue putting well tomorrow and find the swing a bit more, then I could have a really good chance.

“It was Irish conditions today with the raingear on and off so it is familiar. The wind was very hard to judge.”

As likely to miss a cut as win a tournament, Hoey smiled and said: “I am very inconsistent but I am moving away from that. That’s the plan anyway, to move away from the inconsistency.”

Complete Round three Scores:

208 B Ninyette (Aus) 72 69 67;

209 J Hansen  (Den) 70 73 66; J Jeong (Kor) 68 72 69; B Rumford (Aus) 71 73 65;

210 R Finch  (Eng) 72 69 69; J Scrivener (Aus) 75 67 68; R Fisher (Eng) 72 67 71; F Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 73 68; J Nitties (Aus) 68 73 69;

211 Michael Hoey  (Nir) 73 69 69; D Willett  (Eng) 72 71 68; J Sjöholm (Swe) 71 73 67;

212 S Hansen (Den) 71 69 72; D Papadatos (Aus) 69 71 72; P Hedblom (Swe) 68 69 75; B Van Pelt (USA) 70 71 71;

213 M Fraser (Aus) 72 70 71; J Younger (Aus) 70 70 73; N Cullen (Aus) 69 73 71; O Fisher  (Eng) 72 72 69;

214 N O’Hern (Aus) 69 73 72; G Paddison (Nzl) 74 69 71; D McKenzie (Aus) 75 68 71; S Wakefield (Eng) 72 74 68;

215 S Little (Eng) 69 75 71; A Kaleka  (Fra) 74 69 72; C Campbell (Aus) 71 71 73; B Grace  (RSA) 73 73 69; C Rice (Aus) 68 72 75; D Popovic (Aus) 72 74 69; Peter Lawrie (Irl) 73 70 72; F Zanotti (Par) 75 68 72;

216 P Wilson (Aus) 72 71 73; E Kofstad (Nor) 71 73 72; R Haller (Aus) 72 70 74; M Brown (Nzl) 70 72 74; W Ormsby (Aus) 73 72 71; P Spargo (Aus) 72 71 73; M Korhonen (Fin) 73 71 72; C Lee (Sco) 73 71 72; S Henry  (Sco) 74 72 70; R Blizard (Aus) 70 74 72;

217 T Cox (Aus) 75 70 72; S Dartnall (Aus) 74 71 72; J McLean (Aus) 76 68 73; R McGowan  (Eng) 71 72 74; C Doak (Sco) 72 73 72; S Jones (Aus) 74 72 71; A Bland (Aus) 72 72 73; S Kjeldsen (Den) 76 68 73;

218 L McKechnie (Aus) 74 72 72; R Bland (Eng) 75 71 72; J Walters (RSA) 76 69 73; T Bond (Aus) 71 73 74; J Morrison  (Eng) 73 72 73; D Johnson (USA) 69 74 75; D Bransdon (Aus) 71 73 74;

219 R McEvoy  (Eng) 76 70 73; G Havret  (Fra) 73 73 73; David Higgins (Irl) 73 72 74; P Cooke (Aus) 72 73 74;

220 J Wade (Aus) 76 70 74; C Parry (Aus) 72 74 74; S Jeffress (Aus) 76 70 74;

221 A Brown (Aus) 70 75 76; D Drysdale (Sco) 72 74 75; M Tullo (Chi) 75 71 75;

223 B Åkesson (Swe) 69 77 77;

224 N Basic (Aus) 72 74 78;