Unpredictable wind and unfamiliar pin positions made life difficult for most of the pros as Anirban Lahiri managed to stay at the summit despite scoring a two-over 74 on the penultimate day of the Rs. 95lakh DLF Masters at the DLF Golf and Country Club on Friday.
Lahiri, who started the day with an eight-under, scored a six-under 210 after three rounds to lead by just two shots.
Emerging pro Himmat Singh Rai played a controlled game to return a card of 71 and moved to the second place with an aggregate of 212. A stroke adrift, Sanjay Kumar signed off with optimism despite recording an even-par round. Lahiri benefitted from the good work he had done in the previous rounds as nothing, including his own form, went in his favour
Drops three shots
After dropping three shots, the Bangalore-based pro sank a 25-feet birdie putt on the 14th hole. He, however, met with a bogey on the next but heaved a sigh of relief after gaining a shot on the final hole.
Lahiri said the uncertain speed of the wind and “inaccessible pin positions” added to his woes.
Rai gave a steady performance. His blemish-free front nine earned him three birdies, including two close ones on the fourth and sixth and a 15-footer on the eighth.
The local boy, caught up by the wind on the back nine, wasted a shot each on the 12th and 13th. Gaurav Pratap Singh, who hit closer to the pin and putted well for a six-under performance, produced the best card of the day. His 66, which included seven birdies and a bogey, helped him leap 36 spots to the shared-sixth position.
The scores: Anirban Lahiri (68, 68, 74) 210; Himmat Singh Rai (72, 69, 71) 212; Sanjay Kumar (72, 69, 72) 213; Deepinder Singh Khullar (70, 69, 75) and Jyoti Randhawa (67, 71, 76) 214; Ashok Kumar (72, 74, 69), Gaurav Pratap Singh (75, 74, 66) and S.S.P. Chowrasia (74, 68, 73) 215; Gaurav Ghei (70, 76, 70), Shamim Khan (73, 72, 71), Kunal Bhasin (73, 72, 71) and Manav Jaini (71, 72, 73) 216; Rashid Khan (74, 72, 71), Vinod Kumar (74, 74, 69) and Mukesh Kumar (73, 71, 73) 217; Digvijay Singh (73, 73, 72), Ranjit Singh Rathore (73, 75, 70), Ajeetesh Sandhu (72, 73, 73), Raju Ali Mollah (73, 70, 75) and Mohd. Zamal Hossain Mollah (75, 74, 69) 218.
