Whiteford, who shared the overnight lead with Spaniard Alejandro Canizares, carded an eagle and six birdies at the DLF Golf & Country Club as he posted a 36-hole total of 10-under.

The 31 year-old leads by two from Thailand’s Prom Meesawat, who birdied five of the last six holes for a best-of-the-week 64.

Two more Thais – Kiradech Aphibarnrat (69) and Chapchai Nirat (67) – are a further shot back in third alongside Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (69) and Australia’s Kieran Pratt (66).

Eagle

The highlight of Whiteford’s day was an eagle at the 538-yard par five sixth, his 15th hole of the round after he’d started at the 10th.

“I had a sticky patch at the start – it was freezing cold this morning and it’s a lot harder,” said Whiteford.

“But once it warmed up a bit I started to play a bit better and gave myself a few chances. I had a good eagle on the sixth which kick-started me a bit to finish well. I hit driver and a six iron and then holed a good putt, about 30 feet across the slope.

“I wouldn’t say the swing feels brilliant, but sometimes that’s when you play your best golf, when you’re struggling a wee bit. I just need to concentrate – to be ten under is very good, but I wouldn’t say I’m overly confident. I just need a good round tomorrow to be in contention come Sunday.”

Meesawat, meanwhile, said he didn’t mind the cooler temperatures.

“I like the cold better than the hot and humid weather as I tend to perspire a lot,” said the Thai, who is seeking his first European Tour victory and second on the Asian Tour.

Daly withdraws

There was no sign of John Daly in round two after he withdrew from the tournament after saying he may have torn ligaments in his right elbow during the first round.

The American said on Twitter that his “elbow snapped” when he played a shot on the ninth hole and was extremely painful as he finished off the round with a seven-over 79.

Daly posted a photo on Twitter showing his right arm in a cast, saying “no bones are broken, possible torn ligaments according to European Tour Docs – getting home for X-rays!”

Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen had perhaps the most unusual end to his round.

The Dane was six-under for the day and seven-under overall as he teed off at the 15th and had the chance to reel in Whiteford at the top.

But, after playing his approach to just off the green at 15, a stray dog came to sniff his ball and it had to be replaced. Despite the laughter, Olesen appeared to lose concentration and three-putted for bogey.

He got the shot straight back with a birdie at 16 before driving into water at 17 and racking up a double bogey.

However, a birdie at the last lifted him back into a tie for seventh place in a big group at six-under which includes Thongchai Jaidee, Jamie Donaldson, Gregory Havret, Soren Hansen and Marcel Siem.

Like Whiteford and Meesawat, the talented Olesen will be hoping he can secure a first European Tour title on Sunday.

Joint first-round leader Canizares managed only a 73 and is five back, part of a group which also includes Ireland’s Paul McGinley, Scot Marc Warren, England’s Jamie Moul and Wales’ Rhys Davies.

The 38-year-old Englishman sits on 15-under-par at the head of a packed leaderboard in the Middle East, where 11 players are separated by just three shots.

The world number three, who teed off in a tie for seventh, made three birdies in his opening four holes as he swept into top spot.

Westwood, who is yet to drop a shot on the back nine all week, drained three birdies in four holes after the turn and finished off with five straight pars to secure a narrow advantage.

He is seeking a third title in his last six starts, having left fields for dead in South Africa and Thailand at the end of last year.

“It’s not like I’ve forgotten how to win,” Westwood told Sky Sports. “I’ve won 30-odd times, so I’m used to knowing what to do when I’m leading.

“I played nicely again. I got off to a good start with three birdies in the first four, hit a lot of quality iron shots and rolled the ball well on the green.”

McIlroy, Bjorn falter

His nearest challengers are Rafael Cabrera-Bello (70), Stephen Gallacher (68) and Marcel Siem (68) on 14 under, but it was a difficult day for world number two Rory McIlory – the joint overnight leader – who struggled to a level-par 72.

The 22-year-old Northern Irishman is still only two shots behind Westwood after carding three bogeys on the back nine to slip into a tie for fourth.

“It was pretty ragged to say the least,” said McIlroy. “Conditions were a little tougher – the wind was up and that put me off a little bit.

“The greens got firmer and the pin positions were a little tougher. I’ll go to the range and try to iron it out.

“I just had to try to hang in there and stay as close to the lead as I could. To be only two back is a bonus – I feel it could have been worse.

“Two shots over 18 holes is nothing. I still feel in a pretty positive frame of mind and the windier it is tomorrow the better. It will make it a tough battle.”

McIlroy’s co-leader through 36 holes, Thomas Bjorn, also had a disappointing day at the office, posting a 73 that included three bogeys in the final four holes.

However, McIlroy and Bjorn remain in contention as does world number four Martin Kaymer, who fired a tidy 70 that featured 14 pars.

The 27-year-old Californian followed Friday’s 63 with a solid 68, making four birdies and a solitary bogey – a six at the long 15th – as he put himself on course for his first PGA Tour title.

While Levin is on 17-under-par 196 for 54 holes, fellow American Webb Simpson is second on 11-under 202 after a 68, with Bubba Watson and John Huh both a further shot adrift after rounds of 67 and 69 respectively.

Harrison Frazar had been a threat to Levin at three shots adrift when darkness brought the second day to an early end, but he fell back into the pack on day three, sliding from 11 under to seven under after making a poor finish to his incomplete second round and following it with a 73.

An early-morning coaching session from Butch Harmon helped prepare Phil Mickelson for his third round, and a 67 put the four-time major winner into a share of 10th, nine shots behind Levin.

Mickelson was worried in his second round when he played the front nine in three-over 38, so called on Harmon for some pointers.

“Butch is the best,” Mickelson told pgatour.com. “He can identify things so quickly and get you straightened out right away.

“I flew Butch in this morning because yesterday the front nine kind of shook me up.

“We had a really good session, and I was able to feel much more confident.

“I’d like to be further up, but given where I was 27 holes ago, I’m in a really good spot.

Momentum

“I’m starting to play some good golf, and I’m starting to get a little bit of momentum. I feel great with the putter. Ball-striking today after a session with Butch in the morning feels much better, and I’m excited to get back out and play.”

And Mickelson has not given up hope of becoming involved higher up the leaderboard. He said: “Just shoot a good round, because out here what’ll happen is when you start making mistakes or hitting a bad shot or two, it’s very hard to turn it around because there’s water, there’s trouble everywhere, and there’s also opportunities to make birdies and eagles.

“So if I can get a hot hand and put some pressure, you never know what might happen.”

The lowest third round came from DJ Trahan, whose 64 contained eight birdies but left him still even further back than Mickelson, 10 adrift of the leader.

With just 18 holes of the truncated event to play on Sunday, the Scot will be looking to repeat his success of 13 years ago.

Lawrie was the second winner of the title in 1999 – and followed it by becoming Open champion at Carnoustie that July.

Now, in an event cut to 54 holes because of strong winds, the 43-year-old Scot edged clear of the field after a round that included a one-stroke penalty on the 10th green after he dropped his ball on his marker – for the second week running.

“I’d never done it in my life – 20 years on Tour – but last week in Abu Dhabi I was lucky because my caddie saw it and said the marker never moved,” he told Sky Sports.

“This time I wasn’t sure and (senior referee) Andy McFee said I had to be 100% sure.

“I wasn’t watching and you guys didn’t have it on the telecast, so you’ve got to take the penalty and kick on.”

It meant a par five rather than birdie there, but he then picked up shots on the 11th, 16th and long 18th, where he chipped to five feet.

Lawrie leads Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts (68) by a stroke, with Sweden’s Peter Hanson (69) and Argentine Ricardo Gonzalez (67) one back.

Incentive

The added incentive on Sunday for Lawrie, currently 78th in the world rankings, is that victory would lift him not only into the 64-man field for the Accenture World Match Play in Arizona later this month, but also back into the game’s top 50 and in with a great chance of earning a return to the Masters in April. He last played at Augusta in 2004.

Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and American John Daly had led the tournament after starting with 66 and 67 respectively, but Fernandez-Castano did not have a single birdie in a 75 that dropped him to three under.

Daly’s 73 left him in a nine-way tie for seventh and part of a group which also included Sergio Garcia, England’s David Lynn and Anthony Wall and also Lawrie’s compatriot Marc Warren.

Lee Westwood has five shots to make up after a 70 and among those on the same three-under mark are Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal and world number four Martin Kaymer.

Round of the day was a 65 from defending champion Thomas Bjorn. It followed a 79, however, and so the Dane still made the cut with only a stroke to spare on level par.

Stanley, seeking a first win in his second season on tour, led by a single shot at the halfway stage but did not have to do anything spectacular to earn his huge advantage, a four-under 68 seeing him surge clear.

Two birdies on the outward nine saw him consolidate his lead as closest pursuers Brandt Snedeker (74) and Sang-Moon Bae (72) gave up ground with disappointing rounds.

The 24-year-old picked up his third birdie of the day from 10 feet at the 10th before giving it back two holes later after overshooting the green, although that proved to be his only blemish of the day.

Two more birdies coming home gave him a share of the 54-hole tournament record with Tiger Woods at 18-under, and it could have been even better had he not missed from four feet at the final hole.

Korean-American John Huh, competing in only his second PGA Tour event after earning his card at qualifying school in December, returned a 68 to share second place with American John Rollins who carded a similar number.

Sang-moon was a further stroke back at 12-under, level with last year’s FedExCup champion Bill Haas, who returned a 70.

Defending champion Bubba Watson carded a 68 to finish at eight under, level with fellow American Dustin Johnson (70) and one better than Britain’s Justin Rose (70).