- What A Story It Might Have Been:  As I write this, Malaysia’s Danny Chia is seven over par through 13 holes of the third round of the Malaysian Open, an ugly number which leaves him well out of contention.  Earlier this morning, however, he began the day tied for the lead with England’s Nick Dougherty, no small accomplishment for a homestanding player who entered the Open ranked 721st in the world.  Though essentially unknown in the west, Chia, Malaysia’s top player, has enjoyed great success on Asian mini-tours, and is the lone golfer from his country to win an official Asian Tour event, the 2002 Taiwan Open.  Of course, 2002 also saw his best-ever Asian Order of Merit finish – 28th – so we’re hardly talking about a world-beater here.  Too bad he fell apart today, though; had he held up for one more day, who knows how much domestic interest it might have generated for the Open’s final round.

- My Fingers Crossed:  Presently leading the Malaysian field is the long-hitting Argentinian Daniel Vancsik, who fired a third-round 64 to complete 54 holes at 15-under-par 201.  An E Tour winner at the 2007 Madeira Island Open (and thrice triumphant on the Challenge Tour), Vancsik went off at 66-1 this week and thus made for a fine longshot pick for those inclined to wager.  If he is to win tomorrow, however, he will likely have to hold off some solid competition to do so, for world top 100s Simon Dyson, Soren Kjeldsen, Graeme McDowell and Nick Dougherty are all within two shots, while pre-tournament favorites Charl Schwartzel and Jyoti Randhawa, plus former world top 10 Darren Clarke, are three behind.

Friday’s Round of the Day

With the top six men on the PODS Championship leaderboard failing to complete their second rounds due to darkness, we look instead towards the bottom of the board, where world number 50 David Toms posted a cool 81 yesterday.  The centerpiece of his struggles?  A run of five bogeys in seven holes (the fourth through the 10th), deftly followed by doubles at the 12th and 13th.  It must be noted, however, that Toms has been fighting a degenerative disk in his back, and has been playing mostly in attempts at making this year’s Ryder Cup team – but with back-to-back missed cuts these last two weeks, perhaps a rest is in order.