Lahiri on a roll

Anirban Lahiri returned a fine seven under 65 card and regained the lead on the penultimate day of the PGTI McLeod Russel Tour Championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club on Saturday.

Lahiri tallies 14 under 202, with Delhi’s Chiragh Kumar, who also returned a seven under 65, moving into the second position three strokes behind.

Gritty customer

Lahiri, who complained of fatigue following a bout of food poisoning, got over physical discomfort to claim his first birdie after converting a 30-footer on the second hole and followed it up with three chip-ins which fetched him two eagles on the fourth and 15th holes and a birdie on the 14th. His other two birdies came on the fifth and 17th. But a bogey on the 18th reduced his lead in the end.

“Three chip-ins are rare in a round and so are two eagles. I am happy with my effort today,” Lahiri said.

“This is my best single-round score at RCGC. I was quite surprised with what I achieved on the course as I was not feeling well since the night before. This makes me confident going into the final round now,” he added.

Chiragh Kumar showed great improvement over the first two days producing a bogey-free 65 to climb from overnight tied seventh to the lone second. Chiragh, the 2011 Rolex rankings topper, carded five birdies on the front nine and two on the back.

Overnight leader Lucknow’s Sanjay Kumar lost his consistency to slip to joint fourth place after posting a moderate 71.

The scores (after third round):202: Anirban Lahiri (66, 71, 65); 205: Chiragh Kumar (71, 69, 65); 206: Rahil Gangjee (70, 68, 68); 207: Abhinav Lohan (68, 70, 69), Sanjay Kumar (68, 68, 71); 209: Angad Cheema (69, 72, 68); 210: Jyoti Randhawa (67, 72, 71); 211: Gaganjeet Bhullar (71, 71, 69), Rashid Khan (72, 69, 70); 212: Amardip Sinh Malik (73, 68, 71), Shankar Das (71, 70, 71), Zamal Hossain Mollah (71, 71, 70), S. Chikkarangappa (70, 71, 71), Mithun Perera (70, 72, 70).