King Louis bounces back to lead in Malaysia
Louis Oosthuizen continued his amazing comeback from US Masters heartbreak by taking control of the rain-interrupted Maybank Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
The world No 19, finishing his second round after a heavy storm on Friday, shot two birdies on his last six holes for a four-under-par 68 and a one-shot lead over a star-studded field.
Oosthuizen lost out to Bubba Watson in a Masters playoff less than a week ago, and he has had to deal with a 30-hour journey across 12 time zones, extreme heat, a storm and travelling with his two young children.
The South African has been all class at the par-72 Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, following up his first-day 66 for an aggregate score of 10-under 134 in the $2.5 million European and Asian Tour event.
Fellow South Africans Jbe’ Kruger and Hennie Otto, and Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher, are a stroke back in joint second, while 2010 PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer, a former world No 1, is three off the pace.
“It’s nice playing in the mornings here – you feel loose because it’s so hot,” Oosthuizen said.
“I felt comfortable this morning, I had a good night’s rest, felt comfortable on the range and started off with hitting a few good shots.”
Further storms are forecast on Saturday following Friday’s deluge.
“I’m probably going to just hang out here. I brought the laptop with me so I’m probably just going to surf the Internet and just sit and wait,” he said.
Oosthuizen’s friend Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champion and first-round leader, gave up three shots in his second round to drop to five back in a share of 13th.
Scores
134 – Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 66-68
135 – Hennie Otto (RSA) 71-64, Jbe’ Kruger (RSA) 70-65, Stephen Gallacher (SCO) 67-68
136 – Romain Wattel (FRA) 68-68
137 – Martin Kaymer (GER) 70-67, David Lipsky (USA) 70-67
138 – Rhys Davies (WAL) 70-68, Danny Willett (ENG) 69-69, Ben Fox (USA) 70-68, Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 65-73, Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 66-72
139 – Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 67-72, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 64-75, Simon
Dyson (ENG) 69-70, Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG) 68-71
140 – Liang Wenchong (CHN) 72-68, Victor Dubuisson (FRA) 72-68, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (FRA) 71-69, Tom Lewis (ENG) 70-70, Lorenzo Gagli (ITA) 69-71, Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 68-72, Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 72-68, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) 72-68
Selected:
142 – Matteo Manassero (ITA) 70-72
143 – Michael Campbell (NZL) 72-71
Missed cut:
148 – Todd Hamilton (USA) 72-76. — Golf Reporter, SportsCentral
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