Mucho Nacho
Spaniard badly wants to end five-year title drought
THIS week’s Maybank Championship marks Spaniard Nacho Elvira’s (pic) 140th start on the European Tour.
And the 32-year-old from Madrid will be hoping to make it count and end his long wait for a victory after opening up a two-shot lead yesterday.
Elvira, the opening round joint leaders before slipping to second at the halfway stage, reclaimed his top spot after firing a six-under 66 to finish on a three-day total of 13-under 203.
Elvira is two strokes clear of American David Lipsky while Australian Scott Hend, Thai Jazz Janewattananond and Maximilian Kieffer of Germany also kept themselves in contention by sharing third spot on 10-under 206.
Elvira is fired up to secure a much-awaited win that has eluded him for five years.
He previously came close twice with the recent one just two weeks ago when he finished joint runner-up at the Qatar Masters.
Elvira was also second best at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco three years ago.
“It would be great to start here (winning on the European Tour) but I don’t want to think about it too much,” said Elvira.
Trailing by a stroke overnight, he sank seven birdies, including in the last two holes to break away from a congested leaderboard that saw five players sharing the lead at one stage.
“The putter worked a bit better than yesterday, especially coming down the stretch. I’m very happy with a 66,” said Elvira.
“It was tough with the heat and humidity today. I stayed patient and it paid off.”
It would be a remarkable turnaround for Elvira if he goes on to seal the title.
That’s because prior to his impressive result in Qatar, he had missed five consecutive cuts.
“I like the way things are right now with my swing. I like the way I’ve turned around my season a little bit. Let’s see what tomorrow brings,” added Elvira.
Lipsky mixed his scorecard with seven birdies and two bogeys for a 67 to give him another shot at the crown after narrowly missing out in 2017.
Then he was pipped by Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti by a shot.
“My game is feeling pretty good. These last two days I’ve figured something out and just started clicking,” said Lipsky, who fought gallantly from his opening joint 63rd in the first round.
“The last two or three weeks my putting has held me back but I’ve been putting well the last two rounds. I’m excited for tomorrow.
“If I can shoot the same as I did today or yesterday I’ll be pretty happy. That’s all I can do, just put myself in position.”
Lipsky certainly boast some good records in Malaysia, having finished joint third at the Malaysian Open in 2012.
Halfway stage leader Thomas Pieters of Belgium plummeted to joint 42nd after signing a poor 78 to leave him 11 shots off the pace, while defending champion Shubhankar Sharma of India can forget about his title defence bid as he could only muster a 74 to tie for 30th on 213.