RUNNING UP to the tee to play with two Ryder Cup stars at two minutes’ notice was not exactly how Peter Whiteford imagined preparing for the biggest tournament of his career, and it’s hardly surprising that the young Fifer was a little overwhelmed, writes Steve Scott, golf correspondent.

The 27-year-old from Kirkcaldy had a long three days’ vigil at the BMW PGA Championship tournament offices as first reserve and had resigned himself to missing out, booking flights home when the call came as none other than three-time major champion Vijay Singh withdrew.

The Fijian had given himself every chance of recovering from a torn oblique muscle but Whiteford had only a couple of minutes to gather himself for his game with Swedish Ryder Cup players Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson.

“I literally had to run to the tee because the guys were waiting for me,” said the first-year Tour pro after he birdied the last to finish with a seven-over 79.

“It wasn’t the best preparation for the biggest tournament I’ve ever played in and not really how I’d hoped to be ready, and as a result I was pretty rubbish, but I never had time to get control of the nerves.”

It’s all part of the learning experience for Whiteford, but he’s impatient to be doing better on tour having reached 117th on the money list.

“I know it’s all experience but I hate talk about learning curves, I should be putting it into practice,” he said. “One thing is that I learned a lot from playing with Henrik and Robert, and of course going round in such a big tournament with crowds on every fairway is going to help me.”