European Tour: Joint overnight leader Simon Dyson admitted the thunderstorm that halted play at the Indonesia Open helped his game.
The York golfer went round the Emeralda Golf Club in a four-under-par 68, matching Thongchai Jaidee, of Thailand, for the second successive day, to lead the field by one stroke from Wales' Stephen Dodd and Taiwanese Wang Ter-chang.
Ireland's David Higgins was one of 51 players unable to complete their rounds due to bad light. But the Waterville man was nicely placed just two shots behind the leaders on eight under par through 12 holes.
Damien McGrane was safely in the clubhouse on four under after a 71, while Peter Lawrie was right on the projected cut mark of one under with three holes still to play.
But Michael Hoey was going to have to produce something special to survive the cut, as he was on four over with just six holes to play.
Dyson is well versed in the fickleness of the weather in the Far East, having spent a hugely successful rookie year on the Asian tour in 2000.
The two hours that were lost to the weather had only a positive effect on the affable 28-year-old.
"I have to admit the rain break helped me," he said. "I seemed to find something. I had just pulled a couple of drives previously and then didn't miss a fairway on the front nine.
"When I was off the course I was sat with my mates and it didn't feel like two hours at all. That helps. If you are sat on your own it can feel like four.
"I hit the ball really well after that so the break definitely helped me."
Understandably, Dyson is happy with his game as he hunts his first European Tour title to add to the three he won on the Asian Tour as a rookie in 2000.
But he stressed he has to maintain his current standard of play as he faces a possible showdown with Jaidee over the weekend.
"I missed a few putts, but I also holed a couple I didn't expect to get," he added. "I know I could be a couple of shots better off than I am. The game felt better yesterday, but the putting felt better today, so it has evened itself out a bit.
"I have made one bogey in two days and that was a three-putt. Something is telling me my game is pretty good. I am just going to go into the next couple of days and continue exactly what I have been doing.
"I have played a lot of golf with Thongchai and we seem to feed off each other pretty well. Hopefully, I will be paired with him the last two days in the last group, as it could be a good contest.
"He has beaten me a couple of times and I have beaten him a couple of times.
"He's a fantastic player, so hopefully he will inspire me and push me along as well."
Dyson also praised Jaidee for his entertainingly unpredictable game, which was never more in evidence than yesterday.
The former Thai army paratrooper started with two birdies, followed them up with two bogeys, shot two eagles and two birdies in four holes, grabbed another birdie and then double bogeyed the eighth, the latter error ensuring he lost the outright lead of the tournament.
INDONESIAN OPEN
(at the Emeralda Golf Club, Jakarta)
(Brit unless stated, Irish in bold. NOTE: play suspended due to bad light, 51 players left to complete their round)
134 - T Jaidee (Tha) 66 68, S Dyson 66 68.
136 - R Gangjee (Ind) 69 67, W Schauman (Swe) 68 68, A Buckle (Aus) 67 69.
137 - A Kang (US) 67 70.
138 - A Hansen (Den) 69 69.
139 - U Park (Aus) 68 71, S Jeppesen (Swe) 67 72, J Sandelin (Swe) 70 69, P Meesawat (Tha) 72 67, S Little 70 69, D Bransdon (Aus) 73 66, L Sung-man (Kor) 72 67. 140 - M Pearce (Nzl) 71 69, K Horne (Rsa) 70 70, S Kapur (Ind) 72 68, Damien McGrane (Ire) 69 71, A Que (Phi) 70 70, I Steel (Mas) 72 68. 141 - C Nirat (Tha) 73 68, G Houston 72 69, L Wen-chong (Chi) 68 73, P Marksaeng 7170, L Wei-chih (Tai) 71 70.
142 - F Aguilar (Chl) 74 68, D Carter 69 73, A Rocha (Bra) 70 72, C Wi (Kor) 72 70, Z Lian-wei (Chi) 72 70, M Tunnicliff 71 71, G Ghei (Ind) 71 73, A Butterfield 72 70, S O'Hara 71 71, R Won (US) 73 69.
143 - J Milkha Singh (Ind) 72 71, R Gibson (Can) 72 71, M Fraser (Aus) 77 66, B Ruangkit (Tha) 73 70, C Suneson (Spn) 72 71, A Brown (Aus) 69 74, L Slattery 71 72, R Moir (Aus) 72 71, A Pitts (US) 73 70, F Widmark (Swe) 72 71.
144 - M Carballo (Arg) 70 74, M Ruiz (Par) 72 72, R Fisher 74 70, C Plaphol (Tha) 73 71, M Mamat (Sin) 71 73, K Staunton 73 71, C Devers (US) 73 71, SK Ho (Kor) 75 69, J Knutzon (US) 71 73, S Little 71 73, R Coles 74 70.
145 - B Teilleria (Fra) 74 71, T Oh (Kor) 74 71, MA Martin (Spn) 75 70, D Drysdale 73 72, A Savolainen (Fin) 72 73. 146 - D Vancsik (Arg) 74 72, D Chia (Mas) 74 72, R Gomez (Arg) 75 71, P Fowler (Aus) 76 70, J King (Aus) 76 70, R McEvoy 72 74. 147 - A Romero (Arg) 77 70, C Rocca (Ita) 72 75, T Aiken (Rsa) 76 71, M Cunning (US) 71 76, KH Han (Mya) 75 72. 148 - B Kasiadi (Ina) (x) 71 77, F Valera (Spn) 74 74, C Rodgers 72 76, M Reale (Ita) 74 74, R Beste (Aus) 77 71, C Nilsson (Swe) 75 73, G Norquist (US) 74 74. 149 - A Johl (Ind) 74 75, W Abery (Rsa) 77 72, A Coltart 76 73, C Kamps (Rsa) 74 75, R Bain 72 77. 150 - L Wei-Lan (Tai) 79 71, S Khan 79 71, J Kingston (Rsa) 76 74, S Lindskog (Swe) 77 73. 151 - E Lee (Nzl) 79 72, AD Bateman (Can) 77 74, H Buhrmann (Rsa) 76 75, A Mauladin (Ina) (x) 72 79. 152 - H Kahlon (Ind) 76 76. 153 - A Fraser (Aus) 75 78, G Clark 79 74, D Mahmud (Ina) 75 78. 154 - J-F Lucquin (Fra) 73 81, G Mulroy (Rsa) 80 74, A Sjostrand (Swe) 75 79. 155 - F Delamontagne (Fra) 77 78. 156 - N Colsaerts (Bel) 75 81. 158 - A Presnell (Aus) 76 82, B Saltus (US) 80 78. 160 - H Rachmadi (Ina) 83 77. 166 - J Saputra (Ina) 86 80. DQ: I Garrido.
