March 21-24
Saujana Golf and Country Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
$3,000,000
Co-sanction: Asian Tour
Live leaderboard
Round 1, Round 3, Round 4

Thomas Pieters will take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the Maybank Championship after the golf course showed its teeth on Friday.

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The big-hitting Belgian carded four birdies and a single bogey in his second round at Saujana Golf and Country Club to move to eight under par.

“I struggled off the tee early on, at the end it was a lot better. It didn't feel like a good day to me, I made the best of what I had. I gave myself a lot of chances but I couldn't seem to get the ball in the hole.

“I birdied 16, the par three, it was a nice putt. But other than that I felt like I was missing putts all over. I tried not to over read the putt on 16. When you miss a couple of putts you try to read to much into it. I just put it down, looked once, and gave it a go.”

It had seemed Pieters and his fellow challengers might be fighting for second rather than top spot when overnight co-leader Nacho Elvira opened up a four-stroke lead over the chasing pack early in the afternoon.

But as the wind picked up, the Spaniard dropped three shots in two holes on the back nine to slip to seven under par, where he sits alongside Indonesia's Danny Masrin in a tie for second place.

“I still feel like I'm playing solid," said Elvira. "I struggled a bit on 14, I three putted on 13. I had a really easy birdie chance then I three putted. 14 is a really tough hole, everybody knows it. The pin was tucked, I had a hard chip, anyway, double there and then three putted the next hole.

“Overall I'm happy. I'm hitting the ball fine, I'm putting myself in position to find the pins and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

“The tee shots feel like a dream. To be honest I'm picking up a little bit of confidence as the season goes on. I'm happy the way I'm hitting it right now.”

It's a first appearance at this event - which is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Asian Tour - for four-time Major winner Ernie Els, and after a second round 70 he sits at six under par alongside fellow South African Dean Burmester, American pair David Lipsky and Paul Peterson, Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand, Germany's Maximilian Kieffer and Australian Lucas Herbert.

“I think scoring conditions are a bit tougher than last year," said Els. "I've never played here before but from what I've heard the guys usually make a lot of birdies. With the new greens the ball is releasing a bit and I kind of like that. 

“The last four years have been a real struggle, so I'm really happy that I'm playing good golf again. My body feels good and the ball striking is there now. On the greens I'm starting to feel really comfortable, so that means I can have a chance again to play with these guys. That's what I want, to feel like I can have a chance playing Saturdays and Sundays and that's kind of my goal.

“I've got to keep doing what I'm doing and eliminate the little mistakes. The one on 17 wasn't very good. Got to try to get into the 60s and if you're within three or four going into Sunday you've got a chance. Shubhankar showed that last year, coming out of the pack and winning.”