Arjun Atwal shot the lowest 36 hole score of the season on his way to pulling three shots clear of Retief Goosen at the conclusion of the second round of the Carlsberg Malaysian Open at The Mines Resort and Golf Club.
Atwal added a second round 65, six under par, to his opening 62 to move to 127, 15 under par, when play resumed in the second round after the delay on Friday. His total beats Ernie Els’s 129 set last week in Perth while his 15 under par score equals the Els’s low 36 hole total in relation to par on The 2003 European Tour International Schedule.
Resuming his round halfway up the eighth fairway after picking up four birdies in the first seven holes before the rain delay, Atwal pulled his first shot of the day into the bunker but managed to get up and down to save his par. Six more pars followed before picking up his first birdie of the day on the par four 15th hole. Chances from four feet on the next two holes were squandered but finally one dropped on the last to take him three strokes clear.
Twelve months ago Atwal became the first Indian golfer to win on The European Tour International Schedule when he won the Caltex Singapore Masters by five strokes in his rookie season. He struggled to find his form for the rest of the season, admitting he played too much in an effort to play every event he could.
But after a well-earned rest Atwal’s game appears back on track as he remains the man to catch.
“I had a tough shot upon resumption with the ball above my feet between the bunkers and pulled it left,” he said. “But I managed to save my par and after that I hit it well but didn’t make many putts. I could have birdied all four coming home but it is nice to be in this position.”
Atwal leads Goosen, who finished his second round yesterday, by three with Sweden’s Fredrik Andersson, who birdied the last two holes, and Korean Ted Oh a further shot adrift. Among the players to make up ground on the leaders was former European Tour Number One Lee Westwood, a past winner of the Malaysian Open, who added a second round of 67 to his opening 66 to move to nine under par.
