Golf:South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen held a one-shot advantage at the Malaysian Open when play was abandoned for the day due to storms.

The 29-year-old former British Open champion, 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 10 holes of his third round when the action was halted.

Oosthuizen started the day by advancing to 10 under par 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 10 to be three under for the round when the siren sounded.

Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher was also three under for his third round when the weather intervened and will start tomorrow in second place, 12 under through 11.

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 today 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 tomorrow.

“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. I actually don’t think that will be the case now, but at that point on the sixth I was still thinking there was a chance that this could be the last round.”

He added: “I feel good now. I made good putts on nine and 10 for birdie 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.

“I think everyone knew that this week was going to be one of those one where we are off and on the golf course and to be honest I am screwed with the jet-lag anyway so it doesn’t matter either way to me if I have to get up at six in the morning or 10!

“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 so much and it is a good time of the year to do that.”