| McDowell makes his move in Malaysia
Graeme McDowell charged up the leaderboard at the Maybank Malaysian Open on Friday after picking up three birdies on the front nine to move within a stroke of overnight leader Nick Dougherty.
The 28-year-old Ulsterman began the day on six-under-par after a bogey-free opening round 66 and quickly made up ground on top spot with birdies on the second, third and fifth at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club near Kuala Lumpur.
McDowell parred the rest of the holes on the front nine to reach the turn at nine under, one shot behind Dougherty who fired a brilliant 10-under-par 62 on Thursday to take a two shot lead.
Malaysia's Danny Chia, who started on the back nine, birdied three of his first seven holes to move from seven under to 10 under alongside McDowell.
The 35-year-old from nearby Seremban dropped a stroke with a bogey at the 18th and he remained on nine under after pars on the first two holes of his back nine.
Also making their moves up the leaderboard this morning were Spain's Carlos Rodiles and Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen, who were eight under after nine and six holes respectively, and tied for fourth place with Simon Dyson and Australia's Marcus Fraser who tee off in the afternoon.
Darren Clarke appeared in good shape to make the cut after carding three consecutive birdies to reach five under but former US Open winner Michael Campbell won't feature over the weekend after withdrawing from the tournament due to heat exhaustion after his opening round 84. |