August 05, 2018: Anirban Lahiri is playing his ninth WGC event this week and his best result has been a T28 so far. That could change Sunday night. The 31-year-old is lying T11 at the Firestone Country Club with a real opportunity to seize a high finish with a good score in the final round. As it is, Anirban fired a 69 on Saturday to end the day with a six under total of 204 in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational.
Overnight leaders – Justin Thomas, Ian Poulter and Tommy Fleetwood – found distinctly different results in the third round. Fleetwood conceded space with a 74 that dropped seven adrift from Thomas.
Thomas shot a 67 to move to 14-under 196. Poulter settled for an even 70 to remain grounded at eleven under par.
Rory McIlroy joined the party with a second straight 67, helping himself into T2 and earning a final round date with the leader Thomas. Poulter will play with Jason Day, whose 69 moved him to ten under through 54 holes.
Anirban set out on Saturday, guns blazing, as he scored two straight birdies. But he conceded three birdies in four holes leading into the turn, dropping to one over for the round.
The 108th ranked Indian stemmed the tide with a delicate chip on the par-4 tenth, leaving himself barely three feet for a birdie.
Anirban replicated that effort on the 18th to end the day on a positive note, finishing under par for the day with his fourth birdie of the round.
The Indian will go out with Rafa Cabrera Bello on Sunday, looking to find a good low round to secure a memorable finish before heading out to Bellerive for the final major of the season.
Shubhankar Sharma’s battle with the Firestone course continued to bruise the young man. He shot 72 in the third round to remain firmly among the bottom dwellers this week.
But the 21-year-old from Chandigarh is a plucky character and expect the debacle this week to spur him to a greater performance at the PGA Championship next week.