Holman holding court in Malaysia

Golf: Red-hot Australian sitting two shots to good

Australian Nathan Holman continued his brilliant start to the 2016 season to claim the halfway lead in the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.

Holman had played just 15 European Tour events before this season, but claimed a maiden win at the Australian PGA championship in December and went on to secure top-40 finishes in Qatar and Dubai.

The 24-year-old, from Melbourne, carried on where he left off at Royal Selangor Golf Club, adding a 65 to his opening 64 to reach 13 under par, two shots ahead of England’s Richard Bland.

“This round was just as good,” said the world number 176, who responded to dropping his first shot of the week on the 14th with a hat-trick of birdies.

“In the afternoon the conditions were a little bit harder and seeing my name up the top of the leaderboard can bring on some nerves but it was nice to be able to play well and it was good to finish with a few birdies.

“I’ve been working hard on putting for two weeks now, just on the alignment, and, as soon as that got good, it was really nice to start seeing the ball roll and holing some putts.

“After winning at home my next aim was to win overseas, so it’s great to have the chance to tick that one off the list so soon. Then l ooking further ahead, getting into the top 100 in the world rankings is a realistic aim.”

Bland, still seeking a first European Tour title in his 378th event, has yet to drop a shot after adding a flawless 65 to his opening 66.

England’s Danny Willett, Korea’s Soomin Lee, Spain’s Jorge Campillo and Miguel Tabuena, of the Philippines, share third on eight under, with Willett revealing he was suffering from the flu in pursuit of back-to-back wins after his victory in the Dubai Desert Classic a fortnight ago.

Former world number one Martin Kaymer missed the halfway cut by three shots after a 73 left him two over, while Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher improved two places to share 18th after adding a secondround 70 to Thursday’s 68.

Glasgow’s Simon Yates was the only other Scot to make the cut, on the mark at one under, with David Drysdale and Marc Warren missing out.

“After winning at home my next aim was to win overseas”