Clarke soars into lead in Malaysia

Darren Clarke fired a scorching seven-under-par 29 on the front nine to surge to the top of the leaderboard at the Maybank Malaysian Open today.

Clarke began the third round five strokes off the lead on seven-under but quickly made up ground on front runners Nick Dougherty, Jyoti Randhawa of India and Danny Chia of Malaysia with birdies on his first three holes at the Kota Permai Golf and Country Club near Kuala Lumpur.

Clarke then parred the next two holes before reeling off a run of four consecutive birdies which moved him to 14-under, giving him a two-stroke lead at the turn.

However, he was unable to add to his advantage after narrowly missing birdie putts on the first three holes of the back nine, allowing Dougherty and Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark to move into a tie for the lead.

After making pars on his first six holes, Dougherty holed back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth to regain a share of the top spot.

Meanwhile, Kjeldsen began the round on 11-under and played his first six holes to regulation before holing an eagle on the seventh and a birdie on the eighth to move into contention for his first European Tour win since 2003.

Argentina’s Daniel Vancsik was alone in fourth on 13-under after going six-under for the day through 13 holes while Simon Dyson, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, Scott Barr of Australia, and defending champion Peter Hedlom of Sweden were a further stroke back on 12-under.

Randhawa’s quest for a first victory on the European Tour was derailed after a run of three consecutive bogeys dropped him to 10 under after eight holes while Chia’s challenge imploded after a triple bogey on the third and two more bogeys saw him fall to seven under.