Ahmedbad Masters: Lahiri takes four-shot lead into final round

Ahmedabad: Anirban Lahiri carded a sedate one-under-71 in tough scoring conditions today to enjoy a four-shot advantage going into the final round of the PGTI Ahmedabad Masters here.

Bangalore-based Lahiri extended his overnight lead by two shots and take his total to 11-under-205. Kolkata’s SSP Chowrasia shot the day’s best score of 67 to occupy second place at seven-under-209 at the Rs 50 lakh event.

Lahiri (64-70-71), the overnight leader by two shots, started day three by converting a tricky seven-feet birdie putt on the second. He picked up another shot on the fifth to go two-under for the day.

The 26-year-old lost some momentum after missing the green and subsequently missing a five-footer for par on the eighth. The Asian Tour No. 3 came back well with an eight-feet birdie conversion on the 13th.

Lahiri was in trouble once again after he hit it out of bounds on the 14th but made a great recovery to salvage a bogey there. Lahiri is now looking at his fourth win in four starts on the PGTI. He has won the last three PGTI tournaments he has appeared in.

“The conditions were the toughest today compared to the last two days. It was windy and the tees were back. I felt I didn’t have any momentum today. I just didn’t have a good stretch of holes unlike previous rounds. The two bogeys didn’t allow me to settle down,” Lahiri said.

“I could have done better on the par-5s as well. Nonetheless, I was glad to make a splendid recovery on the 14th after hitting it out of bounds. SSP and Shankar were outstanding today as they shot really good scores in the difficult conditions.”

SSP Chowrasia (68-74-67) climbed from overnight tied ninth to second place after shooting the day’s best score of five-under-67. Faridabad’s Abhinav Lohan came up with a 74 in round three after his two scores of 68 to end the day in third place at six-under-210. Panchkula-based professional Angad Cheema was a further shot back in fourth place.

Kolkata golfer Shankar Das posted a brilliant 68 to be placed joint fifth along with Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh at four-under-212.

PTI