Peter Lawrie may be seeing some light at the end of a long, dark tunnel after firing a six under 66 to move into contention for the Maybank Malaysian Open.

The 40 year old Dubliner is playing on a sponsor's invitation after losing his card following a nightmare run of form that began at the Irish Open two years ago.

"It's been a long time coming, I have to admit," Lawrie told European Tour Radio's Nick Dye. "I've been in the doldrums for the last 20 months — since the Irish Open in 2013. It's been long wait so hopefully I can keep it going.

"It's been difficult and I've gone through a lot of swing changes but the confidence is coming back and I can see the ball going in the hole again so it bodes well hopefully for the rest of the year." 

Lawrie made six birdies in an immaculate round to get to seven under par. His score was later matched by Bernd Wiesberger, who leads in the clubhouse on eight under with Lee Westwood out in front on the course at nine under.

Graeme McDowell was enduring a trying day and was two over for his round heading down the back nine.

Michael Hoey (70) looked certain to make the cut by a shot on one over with Paul McGinley also one over with two holes to play.

But it was a poor day for Damien McGrane, who got back to level for the tournament after opening with three birdies in his first four holes only to drop four strokes coming home for a 73 and a four over total.