Malaysian Open: Faldo in danger of missing cut

Nick Faldo’s recent resurgence came to an abrupt end in the second round of the Carlsberg Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

The six-time major winner had finished 10th, sixth and third in his last three events, the most recent coming in Singapore last week, and looked as if he was edging closer to his first European Tour victory since 1994.

A first round 68 at Royal Selangor confirmed that impression yesterday, but any hopes of even making the cut were dashed in the searing heat of the Malaysian capital today.

Starting on the 10th, Faldo went out in five-over par 40, and then also bogeyed the first hole to drop to three over par, well outside the predicted cut mark.

A first birdie of the day on the fifth briefly raised hopes of a late fightback, but yet another bogey on the seventh effectively ended his chances of qualifying for the final two rounds.

At three over with two holes to play, Faldo was an enormous 15 shots off the lead held by Spain’s Miguel Angel Martin, the forgotten man of Europe’s victorious 1997 Ryder Cup team.

Martin claimed the 10th and final automatic qualifying place for the team, but suffered a wrist injury in the latter part of the season and was unable to prove his fitness in time.

The 39-year-old was replaced in the 12-man team by compatriot Jose Maria Olazabal, 11th in the qualifying table, but was included in the official team photograph before leaving Valderrama to watch the contest at home.

The wrist injury eventually required surgery and a recurrence of the problem restricted him to just eight starts in 1998. A third European Tour title arrived at the Moroccan Open the following year, but Martin was again struck by injury in 2001 and played only 10 events.

Playing this season on a medical exemption after surgery on his right elbow, Martin had missed three cuts in five events, including last week in Singapore, but found form with a vengeance to storm to the head of the field.

One of 36 players to complete their first round this morning following a two-hour delay due to a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, Martin carded a five-under-par 66 and, after a quick turnaround, continued where he had left off.

An eagle and five birdies saw him six under for his round after six holes, and another birdie at the ninth took him out in 29 and to 12 under for the tournament.

That gave Martin, a member of Spain’s Dunhill Cup winning side in 2000, a three-shot lead over Korea’s Anthony Kang, with American Mike Cunning a further stroke back alongside overnight leaders Alastair Forsyth and Barry Lane who were among the later starters.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, who lost in a play-off last year to Vijay Singh, had picked up three shots today to move to four under, while New Zealand’s Michael Campbell had to settle for a 66 and seven-under halfway total after dropping shots at two of his last three holes.