China's Zhang Lianwei was furious with himself yesterday after an uncharacteristic double bogey effectively ended his hopes of retaining the Volvo Masters of Malaysia.
Zhang, 32, went on to card a one-over-par 73 after his double bogey at the ninth and his two-round total of 145 is eight off the lead held jointly by Taiwan's Hsieh Yu-shu and Scot Simon Yates.
A poor drive and a three putt at the 402-yard par-four ninth saw Zhang take six and undo some good work on the front nine in the Omega Tour event. He bogeyed on the 10th before picking up a shot at the 15th.
'I was feeling better today and striking the ball well so I was really upset with myself for taking a double bogey,' said Zhang, who has won the title for the past two years. 'I took a lesson on Thursday from a travelling [golf] coach who is out here with Volvo and he told me to slow my rhythm right down and go through a careful pre-shot routine. It was good advice.' Hong Kong's Dominique Boulet, who needs a top-60 finish on the Omega Order of Merit to automatically retain his card for next season, added a 74 to his opening 75 to make the cut on five-over 149.
Hsieh broke the course record with a seven-under-par 65 to share the halfway lead with Yates.
In an inspired round at Kelab Golf Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah, Hsieh, 38, shot seven birdies but missed birdie putts on the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth holes.