KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- India's Arjun Atwal continued to show Europe's top golfers the way before bad weather again disrupted the Malaysian Open Saturday.
Atwal was among 73 players unable to complete their second rounds Friday after a violent 90-minute thunderstorm flooded the Mines Resort course.
The 29-year-old had completed seven holes before the heavens opened on Friday and he finished just eight holes of his third round on Saturday before the oppressive heat and humidity sparked off another storm.
Atwal had just completed the eighth hole and carved out a four-shot lead over the field when play was abandoned for the day.
"I would have liked to have finished, but there was no way that was possible," Atwal said.
Two birdies in those eight holes improved Atwal to 17-under-par with European No. 1 Retief Goosen his nearest challenger after a birdie on the eighth just before the end of play.
Thailand's Thammanoon Srirot was alongside Goosen at 13-under, although he was certain to drop back having carved his tee shot on the ninth into deep trouble.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington, second to Goosen on the Order of Merit for the last two years, was six shots off the pace after also completing eight holes, alongside Scotland's Dean Robertson, Swede Daniel Chopra and Korean Ted Oh.
Resuming his second round Saturday morning at 8 a.m. local time, Atwal managed to save par from a greenside bunker on the eighth hole and parred the ninth to finish in 31.
Two birdies in his last four holes then saw him add a 6-under 65 to his opening 62 for a 15-under-par total of 127 - the lowest first 36 holes of the season and joint lowest score in relation to par, matching Ernie Els' 15 under for the first 36 holes last week in Perth, Australia.
That gave Atwal, the first Indian golfer to win on the European Tour when he claimed the Singapore Masters last year, a three-shot lead over Goosen at the halfway mark.
Atwal appeared undaunted by the prospect of taking on Goosen and Harrington, ranked fifth and ninth in the world respectively, and was yet to drop a shot all week.
Playing alongside Goosen when the leaders began their third rounds, Atwal kept his three-shot cushion intact by matching Goosen's birdie on the par-five third to move to 16-under.
That lead was then extended to four shots when Goosen bogeyed the fifth hole, although Srirot took over in second place at 13-under with birdies at the third, fifth and sixth.
Harrington had drawn even with Goosen on 12 under with birdies on the third and fifth, but bogeyed the next hole to drop back into a share of fourth place.
Atwal then extended his lead with a birdie from 10 feet on the sixth, but Goosen hit back with one of his own on the eighth.
That proved to be the last significant action of the day, however, and tournament officials hope for better weather on Sunday in order to complete all 72 holes.
