Noh, winner of the Maybank Malaysian Open in March, trailed Harrington by three at the turn but caught up with his own solid finish where he posted two birdies and one eagle on his last five holes.

"It was very windy and my front nine was terrible. My second shots were not good and I had to make a lot of par saves. I changed my swing plane a little bit after the turn and it helped. I kept my focus although Padraig started better," said the 19-year-old Noh.

World number 17 Goosen lamented his 68, saying he should have taken advantage of benign conditions in the morning. "Not really happy. The first nine were just perfect conditions. There was no wind and on the back nine, the wind picked up. I got off to a poor start, one over through three holes and my playing partners were two under through three so you feel a bit down," said the South African, winner of the Iskandar Johor Open in 2008 and third last year.

"I really struggled to get going. My chances were there to get a good round in but didn't take it. Didn't putt well enough and then I hit a few poor shots. The first nine holes, you felt like you could birdie every hole."

Title holder K.J. Choi of Korea birdied two of his last three holes for a 70, a score matched by Europe's Ryder Cup winning captain Colin Montgomerie of Scotland, who felt the effects of the heat and humidity at Horizon Hills.

Malaysia's leading performer was Iain Steel, who returned a 69 after a double bogey on his last hole. "I had 17 very good holes. I started very patiently in the first few holes and made birdie on the first hole (10th) and made a 100 footer on 17 which was a surprise. 17 good holes and I'll take it forward to tomorrow," he said.

The Iskandar Johor Open is shown live on the Asian Tour's television platform which reaches over 40 countries worldwide.

The main sponsor of the Iskandar Johor Open is the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA). It is also supported by platinum sponsor - UEM Land Holdings Berhad, the master developer of Nusajaya which is a key driver of Iskandar Malaysia and hosted by the Horizon Hills Golf & Country Club. Other co-sponsors include 100 Plus, Auto Bavaria Johor Bahru, Blackberry, Heineken, Kuok Brothers Sdn. Bhd, Pulai Springs Resort, Ricoh, Srixon, TaylorMade-adidas Golf, Telekom Malaysia, Titoni and Winston Wine. The official media partners are Fairways, Golf Malaysia and ParGolf. The tournament is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Johor Golf Association.