Els, who was suffering from food poisoning and needed an injection during a stoppage in play, carded a twounder 69 as the leading pair opened up a three-stroke gap on the rest of the field. Australia's Brad Kennedy was third on five under after a round of 70 while China's Liang Wen-chong was a further shot back. Lee Westwood is tied for eighth with two other players on level par after a 71.

Scott has not tasted victory since winning the Singapore Open almost exactly a year ago but the world number six was back on top of the leaderboard after the only bogey-free round yesterday at Sentosa Golf Club's Serapong Course. The Australian made birdies on the fourth and sixth before play was suspended for over two hours due to a storm warning in mid-afternoon.

But Scott continued where he had left off when play resumed, picking up three more birdies at the 12th, 15th and 17th to finish the day on eight under. "It turned out to be a long day but I'm really happy with what I did today, " said the Australian. "I executed my gameplan and when I got into trouble, I managed to get out of it without dropping a shot and made some birdies."

Els was grateful for the stoppage which allowed him to receive treatment for a bad case of food poisoning from a Chinese dinner the previous night. "The break helped me because I don't feel too great, " said the South African, who finished his round in near darkness. "If I felt the same as what I did at 1.30 this morning, I would not have played.

The doctor actually gave me an injection and it really helped me a lot. I don't like breaks too often but today it really saved me."