KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Defending champion Lee Westwood was joined by a fast-finishing Alejandro Canizares of Spain to top the Malaysian Open leaderboard by three shots after the second round on Friday.

Westwood followed his opening 6-under-par 66 with a 67, at one stage holding a three-shot lead at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

But Canizares caught him with birdies on three of the last four holes in a bogey-free 65, the best score of the tournament. He has shot in the 60s in eight of his last 10 rounds.

At 11-under 133 overall, they lead by three from Bernd Wiesberger, the Austrian who has been threatening a third European Tour win in the past month. On the desert swing, he tied for sixth in Abu Dhabi, was third in Doha, and tied for fourth in Dubai.

Wiesberger was a shot ahead of Paul Waring of England (68), and Peter Lawrie of Ireland (66).

“I was leading this time last year, and I’m leading again,” Westwood said after rolling in a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th green.

“I feel like I’m capable of a lot of low scores, my swing is getting towards where I want it, and I’m feeling comfortable on the greens.”

Westwood, chasing his 24th tour win, started the day sharing the lead with former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, but the Northern Irishman’s charge faltered after a 73.

McDowell mixed four birdies with three bogeys and a double bogey, to fall six shots back.

It has been a promising display so far from Lawrie, who won the Open de Espana in 2008 before a gradual decline that ended with him losing his tour card last year.

“I’m very lucky to have received a sponsor’s invite,” Lawrie said. “I’ve been in the doldrums for the past 20-odd months. I’ve struggled with a lot of swing changes and confidence, but my confidence is coming back. Yesterday and today I played flawless golf.”

Canada’s Richard T. Lee has a share of 6th at 5-under, five-shots off the lead.

Former PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang, former world No. 9 David Howell, and prominent Indians Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal were among those to miss the cut, which was at 2 over.

Ken Tarling’s journey with the game of golf has spanned 33 years, hundreds of pro events, dozens of countries and numerous course records. Thursday in Portugal, Tarling added to his win total by firing a 1-under-par 70 to earn medalist honours at the European Senior Tour Qualifying School. He finished the tournament at 6-under-par 278, seven shots clear of Englishman John Harrison. With the victory, Tarling has earned full status for the European Senior Tour’s 2015 season.

“I’m thrilled,” said the 56-year-old Tarling. “It’s been quite an experience this week. I’ve never played that well at this event, so it’s great to win here.”

Following a tough third round of 73, Tarling kept his composure and notched three birdies in his final round at the pristine Vale da Pinta course at the Pestana Golf Resort. He completed a run of six consecutive pars to open the back nine while his competitors struggled to keep pace. “I never really felt calm until the 17^th hole. I don’t look at leaderboards but I spoke to a friend on the 17^th tee and he told me I was six clear then, so I felt pretty cool after that.”

Five players tied for second at 1-over par to earn the other five available cards for the season, including three Englishmen – Graeme Bell, Gary Marks and 2009 Q School winner John Harrison. Australia’s Tim Elliott and Roger Sabarros also clinched their places on the Tour. Players positioned seven to 14 earned conditional status for the season.

Two other Canadians were in the field in Portugal. Dave Wettlaufer of Kitchener, Ont. tied for 18th and Keir Smith of Aurora, Ont. tied for 36th.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Defending champion Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell both shot a 6-under 66 Thursday to share the lead after the first round of the Malaysian Open.

Westwood won by seven shots here last year and again thrived at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, mixing seven birdies with one bogey. Former U.S. Open champion McDowell then joined his Ryder Cup teammate in the lead as both took advantage of the easier morning conditions on a hot and blustery day in Kuala Lumpur.

Westwood finished 2014 with a victory in the Thailand Golf Championship and then tied for ninth at last week’s Dubai Desert Classic.

“I’m playing well at the moment,” Westwood told The Associated Press. “I finished off last year with a win and I was hitting the ball well over winter and I’ve been working on my game. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s nice to keep going out on the golf course when you’re playing well.”

McDowell matched Westwood almost stroke for stroke, also carding seven birdies, with both players’ only blemish coming on the tricky par-4 sixth hole.

They are one shot ahead of a trio that included Malaysian Danny Chia, who was even par through nine holes before thrilling the local galleries with a superb 31 on his back nine. England’s Tommy Fleetwood was also on 67 along with South Korean Kang Sung-hoon, who picked up birdies on three of his last five holes.

Spaniard Alejandro Canizares, Denmark’s Anders Hansen, Englishman Richard Bland and Thailand’s Prom Meesawat all shot 68, one stroke ahead of a host of players on 3 under, including European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley and Canada’s Richard T. Lee.

Victor Dubuisson of France was set to be the highest-ranked player in the field but withdrew on Wednesday because of an illness.

The stream of red figures on the leaderboard suggests the course is there for the taking, although McDowell warned the KLGCC layout could bite back in the coming days.

“Lee (Westwood) obviously got to 18 under when he won it last year, but 11 under was the next best score,” the Northern Irishman said. “The greens are good so I’m expecting scores in the mid-teens will win it this year.

“But it’s a course that if you start getting out of position, it can hurt you.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – An unrelenting Rory McIlroy secured his second Dubai Desert Classic title in six years with a 2-under 70 in the final round to win by three shots on Sunday.

The Northern Irishman’s 22-under 266 total matched the lowest in the history of the tournament, set by Stephen Gallacher in 2013 and Thomas Bjorn in 2001.

The top-ranked McIlroy, whose win here in 2009 was his first as a professional, made just three birdies Sunday but kept the mistakes off his card. His only bogey of the round came on the par-3 seventh hole at Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis course.

Sweden’s Alexander Noren, making a comeback this season from a wrist injury, had eight birdies in his round of 65 to take second place at 19 under.

Gallacher closed with a 69 to give the Scot third place with 16-under 272.

The $2.5 million tournament forms the closing leg of the three-stop Desert Swing of the European Tour.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Rory McIlroy extended his lead to four shots with a 6-under 66 in the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic on Saturday.

The top-ranked McIlroy, who led by a stroke overnight, made just one birdie on the back nine of Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis course after five birdies in his first eight holes.

With an overall 20-under 196, McIlroy can challenge the tournament winning record of 22 under, set by Stephen Gallacher in 2013 and Thomas Bjorn in 2001.

Denmark’s Morten Orum Madsen, who shot a 9-under 63 on Friday, was second after a 66 with six birdies.

England’s Lee Westwood (69) was third at 14-under 202, six shots adrift of McIlroy.

Defending champion Gallacher survived bogeys in the opening nine before hitting three birdies on the back nine. The Scot is tied for fourth at 203 alongside England’s Andy Sullivan and Danny Willett (70), and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, after all four shot 70.

McIlroy could do no wrong in his first eight holes as he birdied Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8. And then golf showed him all its quirks on the 10th.

At the 549-yard par-5 hole, the Northern Irishman smashed a drive that went a massive 380 yards. But McIlroy could not birdie the hole as his effort from less than two feet spun out of the hole.

“I didn’t put a foot wrong on the front nine and, when I missed that little short putt on 10, it seemed like that momentum I had just sort of went away and had to scramble a little bit for pars coming in,” McIlroy said.

He finally got a birdie again on the 17th, where he made an 18-footer, but needed to scramble to save par on the final hole after hitting his 4-iron second from 205 yards into the water guarding the front of the green.

“It was nice to make one birdie on 17 and then a great save on the last. It was nice to go out there today with no bogeys,” McIlroy said. “I was just trying to get as many in front as I can.”

As McIlroy surged, his closest rivals fell away on moving day and the 194th-ranked Madsen has the unenviable task of attempting to reel in the four-time major champion on Sunday.

“I was nice and calm all the way and putted well and hit the ball solid,” Madsen said. “I wasn’t really in any major trouble, so that was nice.”

The $2.5 million tournament forms the closing leg of the three-stop Desert Swing of the European Tour.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Rory McIlroy birdied an 18-foot birdie putt on his final hole to surge into a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Dubai Desert Classic on Friday.

On the Majlis course of Emirates Golf Club, where he recorded his first victory as a professional in 2009, McIlroy enjoyed a superb day of ball-striking as he notched a bogey-free round of 8-under-par 64.

His 14-under-par total after two rounds was one ahead of Scotland’s Marc Warren, who continued his remarkable run of form following a second-place finish last week in Doha, with a nine-birdie round of 65.

Graeme McDowell, playing his first tournament of the year, showed no signs of rust as he added a 65 to his opening 67, and was tied for third at 12 under with England’s Seve Benson, whose 66 contained a double-bogey 7 on the par-5 18th hole.

Defending champion Stephen Gallacher also made a rare double bogey on the Majlis course, where his last three finishes have been second-first-first, but he made four birdies over the next five holes for a round of 67.

The Scotsman was tied for fifth on 11 under with the Race to Dubai leader Danny Willett (66) of England, overnight leader Bernd Wiesberger (69) of Austria, and the English duo of Lee Westwood (68) and Andy Sullivan (68).

McIlroy sprayed slightly from the tee, finding just seven out of 14 fairways, but that did not deter him from hitting all but one green in regulation. And while a three-foot birdie putt did horseshoe out on the 12th hole, and he burned the edge in the next two, he was delighted with his round, which gave him the halfway lead in the tournament for the fifth time in eight starts.

“I felt like I played very nicely. Couldn’t ask for much more; bogey-free, made birdies, and set myself up for a good run over the next couple of days,” McIlroy said.

“But there are so many people who are close to the lead, it’s so bunched up.”

Warren, who is ranked 56th in the world and needs a good finish this week to crack into the top-50 and earn his first invitation to the Masters in April, made one bogey before and after the turn, and finished on a high by rolling in a 50-foot birdie putt on his final hole, the ninth of the course.

Denmark’s Morten Orum Madsen shot the lowest round of the day, a 9-under 63 to improve into a tie for 10th at 10-under par.

The cut was at 2 under, which was missed by Sergio Garcia (71), at 2 over.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Bernd Wiesberger made seven birdies on his last 10 holes Thursday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic.

The 29-year-old Austrian took full advantage of the good playing conditions at the Emirates Golf Club to shoot a bogey-free 8-under 64. He made five straight birdies from the 13th hole before finishing with a par.

“I struggled with my putting early on, I didn’t even get to the hole,” Wiesberger said. “Once I got the pace right on the greens, which was a bit slower than I expected it, then it went nicely.”

Lee Westwood and Nicolas Colsaerts were among four players tied for second, along with Peter Uihlein and Andy Sullivan.

Rory McIlroy was another shot back after a bogey on his last hole. He was tied with six other players, including defending champion Stephen Gallacher.

“It’s a decent score,” McIlroy said. “I didn’t hit a fairway until the 17th, which was my eighth hole, but I scored well for those holes. I can’t complain with 66 to start. You’re not going to get the course any easier out there today.”

Rory McIlroy (Warren Little/ Getty Images)

Uihlein was 8 under through 13 holes, but finished with four pars and a bogey on the 17th.

The dropped shot came after he hit a chip shot short of the green and then failed to get up and down.

“I just got too cute on the 17th. It happens,” Uihlein said. “But it was nice to finish with a good par on 18.”

Henrik Stenson started with a disappointing 70, while Sergio Garcia was way behind after a 75.

DOHA, Qatar – Branden Grace shot a decisive eagle on the 16th to win the Qatar Masters on Saturday by one stroke and clinch his sixth European Tour title.

The South African fired a final round 6-under 66 for an overall 19-under 269 to hold off runner-up Marc Warren (67) of Scotland.

Bernd Wiesberger’s two bogies on the second and third holes proved costly as the Austrian settled for third place at 17 under.

Grace’s eagle came after he drove to five feet on the par-four No. 16 and then finished with his fourth birdie on the last hole.

Grace has now won all six European Tour events which he has been leading or sharing the lead going into the final round.

DOHA, Qatar – Branden Grace and Bernd Wiesberger birdied their last holes to keep a share of the lead after round three at the Qatar Masters on Friday.

Scotland’s Marc Warren and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo would have stood alone atop the leaderboard with 13-under2-3 totals if Grace and Wiesberger hadn’t achieved a final flourish at Doha Golf Club.

They were two shots ahead of England’s Eddie Pepperell (65), Spain’s Alejandro Canizares (68) and South Africa’s George Coetzee (70), and four in front of first-round leader Oliver Fisher of England (69).

Grace’s 4-under round of 68 featured a remarkable birdie after driving into the trees on the fifth hole. He snap-hooked a wedge to six feet to stay in contention.

Wiesberger also carded 4 under, while Grillo shot a bogey-free 5 under to be in contention for his maiden European Tour title.

Warren shot four birdies in his first 10 holes, but bogeyed at the 14th before hitting birdies on the next two to match Grillo’s score for the day.

DOHA, Qatar – Bernd Wieseberger birdied his last hole to join South Africans Branden Grace and George Coetzee on top of the Qatar Masters leaderboard after the second round on Thursday.

Wieseberger’s 6-under-par 66 included four consecutive birdies from his fourth hole, the par-3 No. 13. The Austrian totaled 9-under 135 to share a one-shot lead with Grace (68) and Coetzee (67).

Wieseberger and Coetzee teed off in the morning, while Grace enjoyed near windless conditions in the afternoon, and was surprised at the end of the day that nobody achieved double figures under par.

“I really thought somebody was going to push (10 under),” said Grace, who won his fifth European Tour title last month in South Africa.

“You saw the guys from this morning, there were 6 unders and 5 unders and 7 unders, and nobody really pushed toward the end of the day.”

Grace thought one of the reasons could be that the greens were not that much quicker than he thought.

“They (greens) are still very good. They didn’t spike up at all, so it’s a big surprise nobody really pushed on,” he said.

Scotland’s Marc Warren (65), South Korea’s Byeong-hun An (69), and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (69) were one stroke behind at 8 under. Warren shared the day’s best score with England `s Tommy Fleetwood and Sweden’s Johan Carlsson.

Defending champion Sergio Garcia was three shots behind the leaders at 6 under after consecutive 69s.

Charl Schwartzel shot a 6-over 78 to finish at 3 over, missing the cut by four strokes.

Earlier, Wieseberger, who tied for sixth at last week’s Abu Dhabi Championship, dropped only one shot at the par-4 7th, but quickly carded a birdie to finish an impressive day.

“I feel comfortable. I haven’t really expected it, especially because I played quite poorly last year,” said Wiesberger, who won his only two tour titles in 2012. “It gives me great confidence; if I keep on doing what I’m doing, I’ve worked on the right things the last couple of weeks, and it shows.”

Coetzee matched him with six birdies.

“I’m playing well. My swing is coming along slightly, and I’m putting pretty nicely,” Coetzee said. “I’ve just got to wait for my birdies and not force it and kind of play the golf course like I know it.”