Atwal leads by three shots at Malaysian Open halfway stage
Atwal leads by three shots at Malaysian Open halfway stage
Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
India's Arjun Atwal ended his second round Saturday with a six- under-par 65 to open up a three-shot lead over South African Retief Goosen at the US$1.1 million Malaysian Open.
Atwal, who was four-under after seven holes before a tropical thunderstorm brought a premature end to play Friday, toured his remaining 11 holes in two-under with birdies on 15 and 18 at the Mines Resort et Golf Club.
His 15-under 127 total matched Ernie Els' low 36-hole score on both the Asian PGA and European Tours this year.
The Indian star, the first player from his country to win a European Tour event with last year's triumph in the Caltex Singapore Masters, is bogey free after 36 holes.
Off the tee early Saturday, Atwal battled to save par on the eighth hole after his tee shot left him in a difficult lie.
"I had a tough shot upon resumption as my ball was in between the two bunkers in the rough and I had a lie which was well above my feet. I hit it left into a bunker and I had a really tough shot there but I managed to get up and down for par," said Atwal, who shot a 62 in the opening round.
He was also the halfway leader at the Carlsberg Malaysian Open three years ago.
"I hit it solid after that but I just didn't hole as many putts as I did yesterday. But it's okay. I played real solid again. I could have birdied all four coming in.
"It's nice to be in position. I'm going to eat something now and try to get as much rest as possible before starting again this afternoon."
A total 85 players made the cut, which came at one-under 143. The third round resumed at 1:30 pm (0630 GMT) with the leaders set to tee off at 3:35 pm.
England's Lee Westwood, a former winner of the tournament, worked steadily to recover his form of 2000, the year he finished as Europe's number one.
Westwood, who recently hooked up with swing guru David Leadbetter, finished his second round in four-under 67 and is tied seventh on nine-under, six off the pace. Italian Emanuele Canonica carded a 66 to haul himself into contention as well on nine-under.
In Los Angeles, Zimbabwe's Nick Price capped a stellar round with a chip-in birdie on the final hole to post a four-under 67 on Friday and move within one shot of the halfway lead in the US$4.5 million Nissan Open.
The 18th-hole birdie helped the 23-year veteran reach a 36- hole score of seven-under 135 and grab sole possession of second place behind leader Charles Howell of the United States.
Tiger Woods, who missed the first five tournaments of the season after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, also jumped into contention with a 68 to reach a two-round total of two-under 140.
"I drove it really good this week," said Woods. "I hit my irons well and putted pretty decent. I missed a couple yesterday from short range but my speed has been good."
Howell, 23, had six birdies and no bogeys to reach eight-under 134 at the halfway point.
First-round leader Fred Funk, Stephen Ames, of Trinidad, and South Korea's KJ Choi are in a group of five golfers that tied for fifth at three-under 139.