Johor Open: Lascuña trails Garcia by 3

NUSAJAYA, Johor, Malaysia—World No. 20 Sergio Garcia of Spain reproduced his Ryder Cup winning form when he charged up the leaderboard to hold the second round lead at nine-under 63 through 12 holes at the weather-interrupted $2 million Iskandar Johor Open on Friday.

Inclement weather caused almost three hours of play to be lost due to two suspensions and with darkness falling on the Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club, play was eventually suspended, leaving 117 players to return on Saturday morning to resume their round.

Opening round leader David Lipsky of the United States, who has yet to start his second round, shared the lead with Garcia after signing for a 63 in the morning.

Three-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand is six-under through 13 holes and is among the five players, including the Philippines’ Antonio Lascuña, who are three shots back of Garcia and Lipsky at the Asian Tour season-ending event.

Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing returned with a four-under-par 68 and is among the only three players who managed to complete their round.

Garcia, who played a starring role in the Ryder Cup for Europe in September, could only play three holes on the opening day. The Spaniard then returned with a vengeance by snaring 10 birdies against one bogey over 33 holes.

“It has been a long day and I just hope I can keep going in the right direction. Hopefully we can get all four rounds in,” said the week’s highest ranked player.

The weather disruptions did little to dampen the Spaniard’s charge as he was already bracing himself for such delays in his maiden appearance in Malaysia.

“I did well before and after the breaks so overall it is what it is,” added Garcia.  Asian Tour News