Anirban Lahiri T53 at CIMB Masters

Anirban Lahiri continued to languish down the order at the CIMB Classic. He was T53 after two rounds. Billy Hurley III (-10) shot a second 67 to gain a two shot lead at CIMB Masters

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Billy Hurley III at the CIMB Masters

 

Edited by Anand Datla

 

Kuala Lumpur, October 31: Anirban Lahiri failed to find a good round for a second straight day, settling for an even par 72 to remain at two over through two rounds. Interestingly, neither did his opponent in the race for the Asian Tour Order of Merit. David Lipsky only managed a 73 to slip to T59. From protecting oil platforms as a US navy officer on board a destroyer, American Billy Hurley III will now need to defend a two-shot halfway lead after a second straight five-under-par 67 put him in pole position for a maiden PGA TOUR victory.

 

Lahiri was going very well till the 10th hole – by when he was four under for the day and two under overall. But double bogeys at the 11th and 12th and another bogey at the 13th hole saw him drop five shots in three holes.

 

The 32-year-old Hurley fired six birdies for an outward 30 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club before a double bogey on two and another birdie on seven saw him take his place atop the leaderboard on 10-under-par 134 in the US$7 million tournament sanctioned by the PGA TOUR and Asian Tour.

 

Countryman Kevin Streelman produced a bogey-free 68 for second place while Korea’s Noh Seung-yul, the youngest Asian Tour number one when he won the Order of Merit in 2010, was amongst those chasing in tied third position including defending champion Ryan Moore (69) and Ryder Cup stars Lee Westwood of England, who shot a hole-in-one en route to the day’s low of 65, and Sergio Garcia of Spain (68).

 

Thailand’s Prom Meesawat battled to a 71 for tied 12th place on 139, five off the pace, along with Filipino Angelo Que who clawed from being three over for the day to settle for a 72 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

 

Hurley, who served as a lieutenant on board a U.S. Navy destroyer from 2007 to 2009 in the Persian Gulf, knows he must be on top of his game to fend off a caliber chasing pack.

 

“I played nicely to start. That’s what I consider to be maybe the toughest stretch; kind of 11 through 13 are kind of the hardest holes out here, and I birdied 11 and 13. And then I just hit a couple of wedges close on 16, 17 and 18 and was able to make a couple of 10, 12 footers,” said Hurley.

 

“I even played a little bit better probably than the score is on the front side; you know, one bad swing, but I hit a lot of really good putts that kind of just hit the edge. There’re 36 holes of golf left. You know, a two shot lead is better than a one shot lead, but it’s not quite as good as a four shot lead. You always want to have more.”

 

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, Hurley served his country before switching his attention to his professional golf career. He enjoyed four top-10s in the recently concluded 2013/14 season, finishing 97th on the FedExCup rankings.  “I loved being in the Navy, and still have great memories and great friends from being in the Navy. If I didn’t want to play golf, I’d probably still be in the Navy right now, but I’m happy to be out here,” he said.

 

Westwood hit the shot of the day with a rescue for his first ever ace on the PGA TOUR at the par three 11th hole as he charged into contention at the same venue which he won the Malaysian Open in April. “Obviously hit a great shot at 11 that was the highlight of the round, went in the hole. You need a bit of luck but at the same time you’ve got to hit well and straight. And I went back out after the rain delay and birdied two of the last three and had a really good chance at 17 as well to about eight feet, so pleased with the way I finished, and 65 has got me right into the tournament,” said Westwood.

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