Padraig Harrington goes into the fourth day of the Carlsberg Malaysian Open at Saujana Golf and Country Club with a slender one stroke lead over Vijay Singh but play was once again suspended due to a thunderstorm with most of the field still to complete the third round.
Harrington and Singh completed just ten holes before the siren sounded to suspend play at 3.55pm local time and with lightning in the vicinity play was eventually suspended for the day two and a half hours later.
Harrington moved into a share of the lead with Campbell early in the day with a two birdies to conclude his second round and set out in much the same vein with birdies on the third, fourth and sixth to move two clear. A dropped shot on the ninth after a hooked eight iron second shot found a tough lie in the rough took him to the turn in 34 and back to ten under par. He parred the tenth and found the fairway on the 11th when play stopped.
“I’ve just got to keep it going,” Harrington said. “I’m a bit susceptible to a few hooked shots at the moment. Certainly during the first two rounds. But the nine holes a played to the ninth were going pretty well that’s probably why I let that one go a bit on nine because I probably wasn’t guarding against it.
“But there are 26 holes to go. Obviously I’m delighted with my position and to be leading the tournament, but a one stroke lead is nothing with such a long way to go.”
Singh, who won his first international tournament in Malaysia, also made solid progress, completing his second round with a birdie on the last to move to six under par. The 1992 Malaysia Open and then picking up four more birdies with only one bogey in the first ten holes of his third round to move within a stroke of Harrington.
He said: “I was hanging in there, not doing anything and all of a sudden I made three birdies and I’m right there again. It’s still a long way to go and I’ve got 27 holes to play. There are so many guys bunched together at the top.”
Five players - including New Zealand's Michael Campbell - are a further shot adrift.
Korea's Yong-Eun Yang was one of the lucky ones able to complete his round and set the clubhouse target on seven under after a third-round 67.
The third round will resume at 8am on Sunday. Players will then go out in the fourth round in the same parings as for the third round with the fourth round commencing at 9.45am and the last group teeing off at 11.45 am.
Day 3 Video Highlights
