Charl Schwartzel closed to within a shot of leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat before round three of the Maybank Malaysian Open had to be suspended due to a third storm in as many days.
The overnight leader from Thailand had returned to complete the back nine of his second round first thing this morning, and doubled his lead over clubhouse leaders Schwartzel and Ashun Wu when he followed eight straight pars with a glorious wedge to three feet at the last.
The resulting birdie led to a 68 and 11 under par halfway total, and after a swift turnaround the players were back out to try and make up for lost time.
Schwartzel immediately halved Aphibarnrat’s lead with a birdie at the first, but moments later the 23 year old hit a stunning approach to the same hole and knocked in the three footer to regain his two stroke lead.
However, after driving into heavy rough at the second Aphibarnrat was forced to lay-up and subsequently bogeyed the hole.
