Malaysia Open: Steven Gallacher weathers the storms to hold second spot in Malaysia

SCOTLAND’S Stephen Gallacher was lying in second place at the Malaysian Open when play was abandoned for the day due to storms yesterday.

Gallacher was three under for his third round when the weather intervened and will start today on 12 under through 11, a shot behind leader Louis Oosthuizen. The 29-year-old South African, who missed out on a second major at Augusta last weekend when he lost a play-off to American Bubba Watson, was 13 under par through ten holes of his third round when the action was halted.

Former Open champion Oosthuizen started the day by advancing to 10 under with birdies at 14 and 15 for a second-round 68, then picked up further shots at the fourth and fifth holes of his third round. A bogey at the sixth set him back temporarily but he responded by picking up further shots on nine and ten to be three under for the round when the siren sounded.

England’s Danny Willett, Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello and American David Lipsky were tied for third at the early stages of their back nines, the former having surged up the leaderboard with five birdies on a flawless front nine.

Oosthuizen admitted the gruelling 30-hour trip from Georgia had made things tough but said he felt in fine fettle and would continue on the front foot today.

“I got off to a pretty slow start to the third round – I hit three good putts on the first three holes but didn’t birdie one of them,” he said.

“I am probably going for a few more shots than usual in the third round because I am kind of playing it like it might be the last round.

“You never know with the weather here so you are trying to get ahead of the guys just in case all of a sudden it becomes a 54-hole event.”

n Colt Knost was the halfway leader after shooting a five-under-par 66 on the second day of the RBC Heritage in South Carolina. While Knost on nine under held a two-shot lead over Carl Petterson, Luke Donald made the cut at two over with a two-under round of 69 as he looks to retain his world No.1 slot. The Englishman needs to finish in the top eight at Harbour Town to remain ahead of Ryder Cup team-mate Rory McIlroy in the standings.