August 13, 2016: As the first ever golf event at the Olympics in Rio inched toward a thrilling Sunday finish, SSP Chawrasia and Anirban Lahiri continued to wage a grim battle against a course that has tested both golfers this week. Chawrasia has come out the better of the two, having made 71-71-69 so far. Lahiri on the other hand has been struggling on the front nine, falling to 9-over with scores of 74-73-75. Rickie Fowler played outstanding golf for a memorable 64, but it is Justin Rose who was leading Marcus Fraser and Henrik Stenson by a solitary shot midway through the third round.
Chawrasia played his best round of the week, producing a 69 to dip under par after staying even in the first two rounds. Anirban Lahiri was undone again by a shaky front nine and even though he showed character and determination to battle through it wasn’t enough to avert a 75. He is lying outside the top 50 with a 54 hole score of 9-over 222.
Chawrasia looked good for a strong score, before dropping a couple of shots late in the day. He made back to back bogeys at the 17th and 18th holes to end the day at two under 211.
The man from Kolkata put himself in a good position with birdies at the first, fifth, sixth and ninth holes – needing just 32 shots to navigate the front nine.
Chawrasia made the second bogey of his round at the 11th hole but recovered almost immediately with back to back birdies at the 13th and 14th holes to reclaim lost ground.
A double bogey at the par-3 fourth hole summed up the pain this week for Anirban. His approach had veered right, just enough to leave the ball nestled in an uncomfortable area of vegetation, extracting two shots from the Indian.
Anirban also suffered three other bogeys on the front nine, accounting for a 39 shot march through the front nine. He played far better on the second nine, but he needed a birdie at the 16th to offset a bogey as he marched home in an even 36 shots.
