Taipei, September 12: Anirban Lahiri flourished with six birdies on the back nine for a second round six-under-par 66 to trail the clubhouse leader Lien Lu-sen by one-shot at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (TPC) on Friday.
Starting from the 10th tee, Lahiri was bogey free as a two-day total of five-under-par 139 put him in contention for a fifth Asian Tour victory at the US$500,000 event staged at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club.
Local talent Lien, whose best result on the Asian Tour was fourth at the 2010 Queen’s Cup in Thailand, birdied the last for a 71 to set the early pace while Daniel Chopra of Sweden, a two-time PGA Tour winner, was a further shot back following a 68.
Local hero Lin Wen-tang stayed within sight of his countryman after posting a 70 to tie with Thailand’s Prom Meesawat (73) and Ryan Yip (69) of Canada on 140.
Lahiri, ranked second on the Order of Merit, was delighted to continue his hot form after finishing tied 13th at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland last week.
“My game came back in good shape on my back nine today. I’ve been waiting for this to happen as I was hiting the ball well since last week in Switzerland,” said the 27-year-old Lahiri.
He led on the Asian Tour Order of Merit following his victory at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters in April but relinquished the top spot to David Lipsky of the United States who triumphed in Switzerland last week. Regaining his Merit lead remains Lahiri’s top priority.
“I need to push myself harder to boost my rankings on the Order of Merit and on the world rankings. I have dropped quite a bit on the world rankings since my last victory in April. I have a lot of work to do for the rest of the season to get myself closer to Lipky on the merit rankings,” said Lahiri, who is ranked 98th in the world.
Chopra, winner of the 1995 Taiwan Open and 2001 Taiwan Masters, took advantage of the par fives but was disappointed not to share the clubhouse lead when he bogeyed the last.
“I made a few key putts and I gave myself good chances and birdied all the par-fives. I’m starting to get used to the course. It’s going to be an exciting weekend,” said Chopra.
