Maybank Malaysian Open. Advantage Aphibarnrat In Malaysian Mayhem

On a stormy day two of the Maybank Malaysian Open,  Kiradech Aphibarnrat secured a late advantage when he birdied his last hole of the day to lead by one shot, in the Malaysian mayhem in Kuala Lumpur.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat / Getty Images

More storm delays meant that only half of the field had the opportunity to complete their second rounds at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club Course.

There were 78 players who had to resume their first rounds today.  Among them were Charl Schwartzel and Ashun Wu, who went on to complete their second rounds and set the clubhouse target at nine under par with matching rounds of  -4 under par 68. That target proved to be not quite good enough as the  overnight leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat completed the front nine in -3 under par, 33 to get to -10 under par for the tournament, before darkness brought play to a close for the day. Kiradech still has eight holes to play in his second round.

Charl admitted that the tough conditions made it hard to concentrate;

” I can’t be too hard on myself because it’s extraordinarily hot out there. I lost a bit of concentration towards the end and made bad decisions on the sixth and seventh, poor club selections. I was in the middle of the fairway both times and made bogey. I hit a very poor shot on the seventh. It’s been a very long day but through it all I thought I played pretty well. At least I’ve given myself a chance. I’m playing consistently and if I had been a bit sharper today I maybe could have separated myself from the field, but I know I’m playing well and I’m feeling good.”

Ashun Wu was very happy to be in the club house in second position;

” I’m very happy today and my putting is good. I read the lines very well and that made me relax out there. I think it’s important to play with a strategy in mind this week and choosing of the right clubs to use will matter as well. I’ve been in a good form lately and I hope to maintain that. It’s great that I have the opportunity to play in this co-sanctioned event this week. It’s going to be very competitive because we’ve got all the top players from the Asian Tour and European Tour in the field.”

The weather in Malaysia is causing mayhem at the moment, and the organisers must be praying for some dry spells so that they can get this tournament back on track.

CIMB Classic, Malaysia, Wonderful Watney Wins

           

Nick Watney/ Getty Images

Nick Watney shot a course record last round on Sunday of -10 under par, 61 to win the CIMB Classic at The MINES Resort & Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with a tournament total of -22 under par. Nick had a chance to go for a 59, but a wayward tee shot on eighteen left him with a difficult approach to the green from the left rough. His effort failed to reach the green, and he was then left with a long pitch shot for par, he failed in his attempt and dropped a shot at the last. That mistake left Bo Van Pelt needing to finish with a birdie to tie Nick at -22 under par. Bo was seeking back to back wins after his victory last week in Australia. Bo also missed the fairway on eighteen, then his approach landed in the green-side bunker, and he got up and down for par, to tie second place with Robert Garrigus, who birdied eighteen for his -21 under par tournament total. Both players had last round scores of -6 under par 66.

Tiger Woods made the charge he promised after his disappointing error strewn second nine on Saturday. Tiger had a last round score of -8 under par 63, and finished just three shots off the lead, tied in fourth place, after starting ten shots adrift of the final pairing of Van Pelt and Garrigus. Sharing fourth place with Tiger was Zimbabwean Brendon de Jonge, who had a final round of -5 under par, 66, and Chris Kirk who had an average last round of -4 under par 67.  Another really low round came from Carl Pettersson with a -9 under par last round effort, giving him seventh place on his own.