Lee Westwood remained in ominous form as he swiftly overtook clubhouse leader Antonio Lascuna during the second round of the Maybank Malaysian Open.
The 43 year old Filipino Lascuna recorded a superb 65 to lie nine under par, but was swiftly overtaken by first round leader Westwood, who was seeking his 13th win in Asia and 41st of his career.
The 40 year old birdied the first and chipped to within inches of the hole to set up another on the third, before two-putting the par five fifth to pick up his third shot of the day.
Westwood was then inches away from holing his approach to the sixth and another superb iron shot set up his fifth birdie of the day from short range on the ninth.
That meant the former World Number One had covered the front nine in 31 for the second day in succession and another birdie on the tenth took Westwood to 13 under par, three shots clear of Ryder Cup team-mate Nicolas Colsaerts.
Colsaerts had played the front nine in 32 to reach ten under par as he chased his first European Tour title since the Volvo World Match Play Championship in 2012.
Earlier Spain's Pablo Larrazábal recorded a remarkable 68 despite having to dive into a lake after being attacked by hornets.
The bizarre incident happened on the fifth hole at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club - Larrazábal’s 14th hole of the day - and after receiving treatment the 30 year old went on to birdie the par five and make another on the seventh.
"I hit my tee shot just right of the bunker and chipped it out quite well," Larrazábal said. "So I'm walking along and suddenly I felt something on my nose. I swatted it away and suddenly...they were not bees, they were three times the size of bees.
"They were huge and like 30 or 40 of them started to attack me big time. I didn't know what to do. My caddie told me to run, so I start running like a crazy guy, but the hornets were still there, so the other players told me to jump in the lake.
"So I ran to the lake, threw my scorecard down, took off my shoes and jumped into the lake. It was the scariest moment of my career, for sure. I've never been so scared."
After an opening 74, Larrazábal’s round left him two under par for the tournament.
Westwood gave the chasing pack hope when his tee shot on the par three 11th found the water in front of the green, leading to a double bogey five.
However, birdies on the 14th and 16th took the Englishman back to 13 under par and four ahead of Lascuna and Colsaerts, who had followed a run of eight pars with a bogey on the 16th.
