Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth completed a second round of 65, six under par, as dusk fell at Royal Selangor Golf Club to move into the lead in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open on 14 under par at the halfway stage.
After a tropical storm disrupted play for the second successive afternoon it looked doubtful if all the players would complete their second rounds, but the clouds cleared over Kuala Lumpur within an hour, leaving just enough light to finish the second round.
Forsyth had just moved ahead of the Spain’s Miguel Angel Martin, the clubhouse leader, with a birdie on the par five sixth, his 15th hole, when play was suspended at 5.50pm local time. It was his fourth birdie in the space of six holes after reaping three successive birdies from the turn and despite dropping a shot when play resumed 55 minutes later, Forsyth immediately bounced back with a birdie on his penultimate hole.
Forsyth lost his European Tour card by the narrowest of margins last season when he finished 116th in the Volvo Order of Merit. Having received a sponsor’s invitation to compete this week, the 26 year old winner of the 2000 Qualifying School Finals is making the most of his opportunity as he seeks to regain his playing privileges on The European Tour International Schedule with a maiden European Tour victory.
“I played really well,” he said. “Kept it out of trouble and only made one bogey in the two rounds which was the first hole after we started back out after the suspension. The greens slowed up a little and I just misread the pace of the greens.
“But I am playing well. I’m not flushing it and hitting it the best I have ever hit it but am hitting it pretty solid and keeping it in play. My short irons have been good and that has been the key – I’ve been hitting them in quite close and taking the chances.
“Obviously I’m delighted with the way I am scoring. Sometimes you play well but don't score the way you should, but I’m playing well and scoring as well. The scoring clubs have been good this week. If I keep doing that I will do all right.”
Forsyth leads Martin by a shot after the Spaniard shot a near perfect round of 63, eight under par, to move to 13 under par after two rounds. Martin, playing on a medical exemption after breaking a bone in his elbow last season, rated his round as “ten out of ten” as he put his injury woes behind him.
The 39 year old Spaniard has been plagued by injury over the last five years. After winning the 1997 Heineken Classic and qualifying for the European Ryder Cup team, Martin missed out on much of the second half of the season and eventually had to withdraw from the Ryder Cup Matches that year.
He suffered a recurrence of the problem in 1998 but bounced back in 1999 by winning the Moroccan Open. The same year he partnered Santiago Luna to second place behind Mark O’Meara and Tiger Woods in the World Cup in Malaysia and then in 2000 helped Spain successfully defend the Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews.
But last season he was sidelined again by a freak injury when he jolted his right elbow after hitting a tree root whilst driving a buggy. Another operation followed to repair a broken bone in his elbow and repair the tendon damage and he only managed ten starts.
Now, back to full fitness, Martin is back on track as he chases his fourth European Tour title. An outward half of 29 conjured up visions of a second 59, for Martin broke the magic 60 barrier on his way to winning the South Argentine Open in 1987. But the homeward stretch at Royal Selangor is widely regarded as the tougher of the two nines and Martin was only able to conjure up two more birdies.
“I was thinking when I holed the putt on the ninth I could break 60 but the back nine here is very difficult and no chance for me,” said Martin. “I played well and putted fantastic.”
In fact Martin didn’t putt at all on his first hole, chipping in for a birdie three to get off to the perfect start. On the second he pulled his tee shot into the trees but after chipping out to the fairway managed to save his par by holing out from eight feet. An eagle three followed on the very next hole and from there he never looked back.
“From the third it became very easy,” he added. “Just got the ball in play, hit it on the green and holed the putts. I had a lot of chances to make birdie and I did. It was one of those days.”
Two shots further back in the event co-sanctioned by The European Tour and the Davidoff Tour is Korean Anthony Kang who added a six under par 65 to his opening round of 66. Kang, twice a winner on the Davidoff Tour credited his putting for his low scoring as he holed putts as long as 40 feet in accumulating six birdies.
“I’ve made a lot of putts over the last two days from all distances,” said the 29 year old who is based in Las Vegas. “I’ve not felt good with my putting and it is nice to see them go in.”
Another Spaniard, Ignacio Garrido, lies a further shot back on ten under par after a second round of 67, four under par. After a three month break over the winter during which he made some changes to his swing with the help of his father and Domingo Hospital, Garrido returned to action last week in Singapore.
“This is only my second tournament for three months and I played well,” he said. “I hit a few bad shots towards the end but maybe all the hard work over the winter is paying off. I was very erratic over the last couple of years so thought I needed to change my swing a bit. I have no expectations this week and I am still feeling the swing. The good thing is that I am up there and I will see how it works under pressure.”
The cut fell in one under par 141 with 77 players progressing for the weekend. Among the casualties was six-time Major Champion Nick Faldo, whose hectic schedule over the past few weeks and the heat finally caught up with him as he slumped to a 79.
“I feel like a jellyfish,” said Faldo. “I couldn’t do anything today. I guess the heat and humidity took it out of me yesterday and you don’t realise. I just feel like a jellyfish full of water.
“The body suddenly tells you can’t go on. I’ve had five tough weeks. Two in Australia, two flying around the world and a tough week last week. The body just says hang on a minute I’m boss.
“Hit lots of bad shots because I just couldn’t feel. I tried to stand up and hit some shots but couldn’t can’t feel the tempo or the timing of the whole swing.”
