Lahiri leads at Selangor Masters

Report by Anand Datla

September 18, 2014: An Indian at the head of a golf score is nearly as rare an occurrence as a deposit of Iridium, one of rarest resources on the planet. Selangor in Malaysia was witness to one such exception today, when S.S.P Chowrasia produced a battling 5-under 66 to gain a share of the lead with Chan Yih-shin of Chinese Taipei. The Indian made four birdies in the his opening five holes to set up a brilliant first round at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters. Anirban Lahiri upstaged them both with a stellar 64 to snatch the outright lead later in the day.

While Chowrasia enjoyed all the attention in the morning, Lahiri stole the show later in the day with a spectacular 64 to take control of the leaderboard at the end of the first round. Lahiri made the fairway 11 out of 14 times and made 15 greens in regulation to go up and down in just 64 shots for a two shot lead. He made six birdies on the front nine and four more on his way to the clubhouse, needing just 32 shots on either side of the turn for his round.

Chowrasia, looking for his maiden success outside India, shot five birdies in his first nine holes beginning at the tenth. After just taking 30 shots to complete his outward march, Chowrasia was far more subdued in his performance from the first hole. The two-time Asian Tour winner produced two birdies and two bogeys as he remained five under through the end of the first round at the Seri Selangor Golf Club.

The US$410,000 Asian Tour event also has a bunch of other Indians – Chiragh Kumar(68), Digvijay Singh(69), Jyoti Randhawa(71), Rashid Khan(73), Arjun Atwal(73), Sujjan Singh(76), Himmat Rai(72), Manav Jaini(72) and Rahil Gangjee(73) are the others in the fray.

“I started very well as I was five-under. I struggled a bit on the back but it was still a good round. This is a short but very tricky golf course,” said Chowrasia. “You always have to place the ball at the right spots. You must hit your ball straight as well because there is a lot of hazards here. This is a very good score. I made some good putts and that helped in my round. I’m doing okay on the Asian Tour. I’ve been working on every aspect of my game and I think the hard work is starting to show results. I had two long putts in the round on holes nine (30 feet) and 14th (25 feet from outside the green).”

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