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Harrington is outright leader after 67

GOLF : DESPITE MIXED feelings about his performance Pádraig Harrington picked up where he left off in Malaysia to move into …

Sat Oct 16 2010 - 01:00

GOLF: DESPITE MIXED feelings about his performance Pádraig Harrington picked up where he left off in Malaysia to move into the outright lead at the midway point of the €890,000 Iskandar Johor Open on the Asian Tour.

The Dubliner fired a second-round 67 at the Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club, which added to his opening 64, and was good enough for a one-shot lead on 13-under 131. Aside from a closing bogey it was another fruitful return in humid conditions with a third eagle in two days the main highpoint.

The triple major winner, seeking his first win since 2008, picked up back-to-back birdies from the third before landing an eagle at the par-five fifth – where he holed from 25 feet – to turn in four-under 32.

Further inroads were made on the back nine with birdies at the 11th and 17th, but some of the shine was taken off the round with a bogey at the par-five 18th.

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Still, the impressive 13-under aggregate left the world number 22 top of the pile and one shot ahead of Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang, who carded a second-round 65, the low round of the day.

“I played pretty well yesterday (Thursday) but was horrible today,” said a somewhat bemused Harrington, who plans to play aggressively over the weekend.

“If anything, I lost a bit of my timing which goes off. My body gets ahead of my arms. I’m happy I know what it is and I’m happy to know where my bad shots are coming from.

“There’s no point being defensive out there. There are a lot of birdies to be made and I’ve made a few eagles.

“I’ve got to keep going like that. You’ve got to expect to get to around 20 under par tomorrow (Saturday). I’ve got to keep moving forward, play well and take a lead into Sunday.”

As Lin shot a best-of-the-day 65, South Korean Lee Sung carded a bogey-free 68 to move into third, three shots behind Harrington.

“The tee shots were very good, the short game was good. Seven under, I’m very happy,” said Lin.

Defending champion KJ Choi carded another 70 to be four under, while Retief Goosen dropped back to three under after a 73, the same mark as winning Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie (71).