Anirban Lahiri stumbles again at WGC-HSBC Champions

Anirban Lahiri

Shanghai, Nov 8 (IANS)

After enjoying a brief resurgence with a second round 70, Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri stumbled to another 74 like his opening day and dropped to tied 34th place, following the third round of the $8.5 million WGC-HSBC Champions here Saturday. The Indian, a five-time Asian Tour winner, started off promisingly with a birdie on the second hole but his game started to unravel with a bogey on four followed by a double-bogey-five on six at the Sheshan International Golf Club.

He dropped another two shots on 11 and 12 but limited the damage with two successive birdies on 13 and 14 before signing for a three-day total of two-over-par 218 under windy and chilly conditions.

"My game's still there and I don't have to reinvent the wheel. It's just a matter of getting the ball onto the fairway and taking advantage of the opportunities which were far and few today," said Lahiri. Japan's Hiroshi Iwata provided the bright sparks for Asian golfers by staying in contention with a four-under-par 68 to take second place, trailing Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell by one shot.

China's Wu Ashun also continued to spearhead the home charge by carding a 69 for tied 15th place at the final World Golf Championships event of the year. But otherwise it was a day where other leading Asian heavyweights such as Lahiri and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee struggled.

Thongchai was also left to rue another day of missed opportunities as he traded five bogeys against two birdies to slip further down to tied-54th place. Current Order of Merit leader David Lipsky of the United States signed for a 72 to take tied-62nd place while Philippines' Antonio Lascuna added a 73 to his previous rounds of 76 and 79 to share 72nd place with South Africa's Jaco Van Zyl.