Surging Atwal with
Surging Atwal with
three-shot lead
at halfway stage
of Malaysian Open
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.