Golf Events / Editor / 09 February 2007 /

Englishman Simon Dyson has his eyes set on a fifth victory in Asia as he lies ideally placed at the halfway stage of the Maybank Malaysia Open.

Dyson carded a four-under-par 68 to move into a five-way tie for second place when the second round was halted early for storms on Friday, two strokes behind leader Chinarat Phadungsil.

Phadungsil leads the field on seven-under after a second round 67 ahead of the chasing pack which includes Dyson, Challenge Tour graduate Marcus Higley, Mikko Ilonen and Argentines Ricardo Gonzalez and Rafael Echenique.

Soren Kjeldsen lies one stroke further back on four-under while the likes of Jeev Milkha Singh, Prom Meesawat, Alastair Forsyth and Michael Campbell are still close enough to have a say in the final outcome on Sunday.

Phadungsil was trading as high as 500 earlier in the week, but is now available at 8.6 to win his third Asian Tour event.

Dyson is the new favourite and can be backed at 6 to win in Kuala Lumpur with Gonzalez (13), Kjeldsen and Singh (16.5), Echenique (17) and Ilonen (17.5) behind him in the winner market.

Dyson certainly has the experience to win at the weekend having triumphed three times on the Asian Tour in 2000, on his way to winning the Asian Order of Merit title that year as he struggled to make his initial breakthrough on the European Tour.

The 29-year-old Yorkshireman also emerged victorious at the Indonesian Open last year and assumes an added air of confidence when he plays in this part of the world, as he admitted after his round on Friday.

His second round began with a bang with two birdies and a eagle in his first four holes and, although he couldn't keep it going on the back nine as his putter went cold, Dyson will have raised his hopes for the weekend.

As he demonstrated in 2006 with his best-ever season on tour, Dyson is a player who is improving and maturing all the time and this could be his week. He can be backed at 2 to place in the first five.

Gonzalez is renowned for his good performances early in the season and has shown signs of warming to his task in Malaysia, where, at times, brutal temperatures don't seem to affect him too much.

The Argentine was beginning to climb up the leaderboard and had just sunk an eagle putt at the 13th when play was abandoned for the day on Friday and Gonzalez, who is 1.75 to place in the top five, is one of the players who is expected to figure prominently in the finish.

His compatriot Echenique, Ilonen and Kjeldsen, who are trading around 2 to finish in the first five, will also be keen to have their say in events on Sunday as they go into the weekend handily placed.

Higley, 44 to win and 3.55 to come in the first five, has shown he could be a star of the future after following up his opening round of level-par 72 by shooting 67 on Friday.

But it would no surprise if Phadungsil were to maintain his position at the head of affairs, especially if the extremely hot and sultry conditions continue into the weekend.

Temperatures of more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit are not to everyone's liking and, whereas they are sure to undermine some of the Europeans' challenge, they shouldn't be a factor for the 18-year-old Thai star.

Phadungsil, who is available at 3.2 to place in the top five, won the world junior amateur championship in 2005 and both his Asian Tour victories have been achieved after nerve-jangling play-offs.

His first win, which came when he was still an amateur, was at the expense of India's Shiv Kapur while he beat Meesawat and Lin Wen-tang to claim his second.

Despite his tender age, Phadungsil has already proved his mental toughness and anybody expecting his game to crumble when the pressure is on at the weekend could be mistaken.

Milkha Singh and Meesawat, who can be backed at 72 to win, lie close enough to the leaders to mount a challenge.

Joining them on the two-under-par mark is Frankie Minoza, who is a man in form after winning last week's Filipino Open on the Asian Tour and is available to back at similar odds to Meesawat.

Mark Foster (70), Robert Rock (42) and Forsyth (65) remain in the hunt, despite disappointing performances in the second round, and cannot be discounted.

The same applies to 2005 US Open champion Campbell, who is eight shots off the lead after a more encouraging second round 70.

Campbell has been delighted with the way he has played tee to green so far this week, missing just five greens in regulation in the first two days.

He has found the greens an altogether tougher challenge but, if he finds his putting range, he looks sure to move up the leader board and could still have a say in the final outcome on Sunday.

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