South African star Louis Oosthuizen edged into a one-shot lead at the weather-disrupted Maybank Malaysian Open on Saturday to earn a shot at victory seven days after his Masters Tournament heartbreak.
The 2010 British Open champion, who lost to American Bubba Watson in a play-off in the year's opening Major, moved to 13-under-par through 10 holes of his third round when play was suspended due to a lightning storm in the evening.
Scotland's Stephen Gallacher led the chasing pack after negotiating 12 holes of his third round in three under, followed by Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain, England's Danny Willet and American David Lipsky, all on 10-under.
Oosthuizen travelled for nearly 30 hours from Augusta National to Kuala Lumpur where he spent "every second" reflecting on his play-off defeat in the second extra hole but showed he was well over the disappointment.
The 29-year-old first returned to the West course early this morning to fire two birdies in six holes to seize the second round lead and kept his nose ahead of the pack with another masterful display in the afternoon's third round with birdies on the fourth, fifth, ninth and 10th holes against a bogey on six.
"I feel good now. I made good putts on nine and 10 for birdies and I have another birdie putt to come back to in the morning so it feels really good. I am playing well and just have to keep giving myself chances," said Oosthuizen, who is chasing his fifth European Tour victory and first in Asia.
"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. It's a tough week but it was always going to be the case this week. None of that will matter if I can win tomorrow. My swing feels really good and when you are playing like this, you really want to get a win because it just boosts the confidence and it is a good time of the year to do that."
golf365.com