Kolkata: Anirban Lahiri shot a sublime seven-under-65 to seize the lead in round three of the McLeod Russel Tour Championship being played at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC). The Bangalore lad’s total moved to 14-under-202 after he posted the tournament’s best score. Delhi’s Chiragh Kumar also signed in a 65 to be three strokes off the lead in second position.
Anirban Lahiri (66-71-65) overcame an upset stomach to shoot an incredible round of 65 that placed him three shots clear of the field. The 26-year-old, who was overnight second, claimed his first birdie after converting a 30-footer on the second. Anirban then made as many as three chip-ins. Two of them resulted in eagles on the fourth and 15th and the third resulted in a birdie on the 14th. His other two birdies came on the fifth and 17th. The bogey on the 18th was the only blemish on his card.
Lahiri said, “Three chip-ins in a round are a rarity and so are two eagles. I’m thrilled with my effort today. I capitalized well on both the par-5s. I started well as I converted my longest putt in six months, a 30-footer, for birdie on the second. I just kept picking up strokes thereafter. This is my best single-round score at RCGC. I was quite surprised with what I achieved on the course as I haven’t been feeling too well since last night and was therefore just trying to get through the round. I didn’t even have anything to eat today. I’m quite confident going into the final round now.”
Chiragh Kumar (71-69-65) produced a spectacular bogey-free 65, the joint best score of the tournament, to climb from overnight tied seventh to second position. Chiragh, the 2011 Rolex Rankings champion, earned five birdies on the front-nine that featured putts from 12 to 15 feet on the fifth and sixth. He also landed it within four feet on the second and eighth. Chiragh chipped-in for birdie on the 13th and picked up another birdie on the 15th to end the day with a total score of 11-under-205.
Chiragh said, “I had a solid start and just kept it going, unlike the second round where I couldn’t capitalize on the start. My ball-striking was great and I kept the errors out of my game. I’ve been playing well as I had a good outing at Jamshedpur last week where I finished in the top-5. I’ll just look to play to my potential in the final round as Anirban has the ability to shoot very low scores and is going to be a tough contender.”
Kolkata’s Rahil Gangjee sank an eagle from 45-feet and also made two birdies in his round of 68 that moved his score to 10-under-206 and helped him end the day in third place.
Lucknow’s Sanjay Kumar, the overnight leader, slipped to joint fourth place after posting a 71. Abhinav Lohan of Faridabad fired a 69 to join Sanjay in tied fourth at nine-under-207.
Jyoti Randhawa is in seventh place at six-under-210 while Gaganjeet Bhullar and Rolex Rankings leader Rashid Khan of Delhi are in tied eighth spot at five-under-211.
Defending champion SSP Chowrasia lies tied 24th at one-over-217.
