Friday 2 February 2018 14:44, UK
Lee Westwood fired a round-of-the-day 62 to move within a shot of the halfway lead at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia.
Westwood birdied his final three holes in hot and humid conditions at Saujana G&GC to get to 10 under and stay in touch with midway pacesetters Phachara Khongwatmai and Nino Bertasio.
Bertasio posted a seven-under 65 to match Khongwatmai's clubhouse target, with overnight leader Chris Paisley in the share of third alongside Westwood, Marc Warren and Yuta Ikeda.
"I just free-wheeled and had fun out there," Westwood said. "Tee to green it was brilliant, with 11 birdies and one bogey I'm in contention."
Beginning on the back nine and seven strokes off the pace, Westwood posted back-to-back gains from the 12th and moved up the leaderboard with five consecutive birdies from the 16th.
Westwood bounced back from a bogey at the fourth to birdie the par-five next and add another gain at the seventh, before picking up shots over the last two holes to grab the morning lead.
Ikeda carded a blemish-free 64 and Warren birdied his final hole to make it a three-way tie, only for Khongwatmai to move ahead with five birdies in-a-row over his back nine.
Four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn helped Bertasio join Khongwatmai on 11 under, while in-form Paisley kept in contention by following his opening-round 65 with a three-under 69.
Top seed Henrik Stenson heads into the weekend six strokes off the pace, while Omega Dubai Desert Classic champion Haotong Li missed the cut.
Watch the Maybank Championship throughout the weekend live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Saturday from 2.30am on Sky Sports Golf.
