Lahiri slides down in Selangor

Report by Anand Datla

September 20, 2014: After two days of dominant golf, during which Anirban Lahiri appeared to own the course at the Seri Selangor Golf Club, he fell victim to its vengeance. Lahiri had a miserable day, including a bothersome stomach bug. He ended with a pair of double bogeys at the final two holes amidst challenging conditions in the third round on Saturday. SSP Chowrasia also gave away two shots to the rampant course as he slipped to eighth on the board. A 71 was enough for Cameron Smith to gain a one shot lead at 8-under 205 through three rounds.

Lahiri’s misery struck him without so much as a warning. A birdie at the par-4 second saw the Indian get off to a solid start as he improved to 11-under through three holes. But two bogeys and four even par efforts on the first nine holes saw him slip to 9-under. Though Anirban made a birdie on the 13th to go back into double figures, a bogey on the next and the pair of doubles to end his third round saw him return five shots to the course on Saturday.

Chowrasia paid the price for a double bogey at the par-4 second hole. He made two birdies and an equal number of bogeys through the remainder of the day to give back two to the course by the end of his third round. He was 4-under 209 by the end of the third round and with the difference now just one from Lahiri and four from Smith, there was still some for a strong finish on Sunday.

Jyoti Randhawa also made a 73 to drop to even par and T23 going into the final round on Sunday. Chiragh Kumar scored a 69 to join Randhawa at even par through three rounds. Rashid Khan made 72 to slip to 1-over and T38, while Arjun Atwal slipped a massive 34 spots to finish Saturday at 71st among 73 golfers.

Chien-yao Hung enjoyed the best returns on the day making seven birdies in his 67 to jump 17 spots to T4 with David Lipsky and Jake Higginbottom.

For more news that golfers are talking about, follow golfingindian on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube video channel