Alastair Forsyth and Barry Lane share the lead in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open after opening rounds of 63, eight under par, but 36 players are still to complete their first rounds after play was suspended for two hours when a tropical storm hit Royal Selangor Golf Club.
Forsyth lost his European Tour card by the narrowest of margins last season, finishing 116th in the Volvo Order of Merit. Playing in Malaysia on a sponsor’s invitation, the Scotsman made the most of his opportunity by overcoming the soaring temperatures and 95 per cent humidity to post an opening 63.
Forsyth was just one of many players drained by the conditions and at one point said he felt close to collapse as his legs turned to jelly.
“I don’t know how I managed to play well but I played great from the word go,” he said. “But the last few holes were a real struggle. On the 16th I didn’t know where I was as my head was spinning and legs felt like jelly. I stood over my second shot and thought I could miss this. I’ve travelled everywhere and experienced a lot but nothing compares to this. I need to find something to rehydrate.
“I have been playing well, hitting the ball better. I thought I had a chance of doing well this week. The 63 took me a little by surprise but still felt I could play well. That is definitely one of the best rounds I have ever played. It was very consistent. Hit it down the fairway and kept hitting a lot of good iron shots and then knocked in a few putts.”
Lane’s 63 was his lowest opening round since the 1994 Turespaña Open de Baleares, the last tournament he won on The European Tour International Schedule. At that time the Englishman was one of Europe’s leading players, earning Ryder Cup honours in 1993 and winning $1 million two years later when he captured the 1995 Accenture World Championship of Golf.
But over the next five years Lane slipped down the Volvo Order of Merit, struggling to 110th place in 1998 and 103rd in 2000. Last summer however Lane took a conscious decision to change his attitude and enjoy the game again.
He immediately reaped the rewards with three top tens in July and finished the season in 41st place in the Volvo Order of Merit, his highest finish in six years. Lane started the 2002 season in confident fashion with a joint fourth place finish in the BMW Asian Open and earlier this month was among the leaders in the Heineken Classic before dropping two shots in the last three holes at Royal Melbourne.
That form has not deserted him after a short break as he set the early pace in Malaysia. After opening his account with a birdie on the first hole, Lane eagled the par five third after hitting a four iron to ten feet. Another birdie on the par five sixth hole, which he two putted from 20 feet, took him out in 32 but it was over the more difficult back nine that Lane made his move with a run of four successive birdies from the 14th hole. Three times he holed from 25 feet or more on his way to a back nine of 31 and a round of 63.
“Since last June I started to play better and thoroughly enjoyed the end of the year. Got myself in contention and have just started to enjoy my golf,” said Lane. “If I hit a bad shot I don’t worry about it. Everybody hits bad shots but if you can get up and down it keeps the round going. I am just really enjoying playing golf. I still feel I can win. I would love to get into the top 50 again and get into these World Championship events. There is no point going out there is you are not enjoying yourself.”
Play was suspended for two hours from 3.51pm local time due to lightning. The 36 players who are still to complete their opening rounds will return to the course at 8am local time to resume play with tee off times in the second round put back 45 minutes.
