Wiesberger overtakes Westwood in Malaysia
Overnight co-leader Canizares second as champion slips to joint third
KUALA LUMPUR: Bernd Wiesberger yesterday birdied six of his first seven holes en route to his best European Tour score yet, a nine-under-par 63 that catapulted him past defending champion Lee Westwood and into the Malaysian Open lead after three rounds.
Westwood, who held a share of the lead at the end of each of the first two days, remained in contention three strokes back with a 69 for the day.
But the Englishman, who is notably comfortable with the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club’s undulating fairways, has snared fewer birdies each day as others seem to be figuring the course out — including Wiesberger.
On a day where temperatures climbed to 33C, the Austrian started hot and cooled only slightly on his way to 10 birdies and sole first place at 17-under-par for the tournament.
“It was a great day for me. This is my European Tour record. I’ve never shot a 63,” he said.
“Everyone was making birdies early on and it was nice to be amongst that. I won’t be fooled by this position tomorrow. There are a lot of good scores out there, as we saw today, so I’ll be trying to make some birdies again and play as well as I did today.”
Second-round co-leader Alejandro Canizares was two strokes behind Wiesberger at 15-under for the event after shooting a 68 that included an eagle — a 110-yard approach that skipped into the hole on the parfour 16th.
Westwood was tied for third along with his fellow Englishman Paul Waring at 14-under.
“I didn’t play particularly well today, so I was pleased to shoot 69, which keeps me in the hunt,” said Westwood, who won last year by seven strokes and also took the title in 1997.
It would have been worse for Westwood, but he managed to convert two birdies on his last two holes.
“If I didn’t make them I’m looking at probably being five shots back, so it was nice to finish with a bit of momentum,” he said.
Waring had two eagles in his round of 65 while India’s Anirban Lahiri matched Wiesberger’s 10 birdies, posting a bogey-free 62, the lowest score of the tournament so far, to sit five strokes off the top.
“Last couple of days, I was trying too hard to make birdies, trying to make a move. I just let go today. When I saw a line, I just hit it on the line and took it on merit whether it went in or missed,” said Lahiri, whose career’s low round was a 61 in Macau last year.
“This changes the situation in terms of where I stand. But in terms of what I need to do, it’ll be the same thing. I think the hallmark today was that I stayed bogey free because the first two days I made 11 birdies and dropped nine shots. I putted well and that’s what I’ll need to do again tomorrow.”
Former major winner Graeme McDowell’s hopes appeared dead following an even-par effort yesterday that left him 12 strokes behind Wiesberger.