Press Trust of India
Fortworth (Texas), May 30: Anirban Lahiri produced a superb front nine en route to a steady final round to finish tied sixth at the Dean & Deluca Invitational golf tournament here and register his first top-10 position of the ongoing season on the PGA Tour. His best finish, however, is the sole fifth that he achieved in the PGA Championships in 2015.
The 28-year-old Lahiri shot 68 in the final round here to finish with a total of nine-under 271 at the Colonial Country Club. The finish bettered his previous best in the 2015-16 season of tied 21st at CIMB Classic in Malaysia, which is PGA Tour’s only stop in Asia. Lahiri’s rounds this week were 65-70-68-68.
At the top Jordan Spieth (65) reminded of his ‘Masters meltdown’ by a fan at the turn, raised the bar on the back nine with six birdies to grab the title, his first in his home state of Texas. He ended with 17-under and three clear of Harris English (68).
Lahiri, who admitted he was disappointed that he could not keep the gap smaller than five shots after three rounds, kept his word of going all out early in the final round. He had three birdies and no bogeys in his front nine and then added two more on 10th and 11th. At one stage he rose to 12-under and was a mere two shots behind the then leader, English.
Lahiri birdied second, fifth, seventh, 10th and 11th. Unfortunately, one bad swing on 15th, which saw him go into the water with the second shot, forced him to take a penalty and that led to a double bogey.
“I played well all day, except for that bad swing on 15th,” admitted Lahiri. “Also, maybe I lost a bit of my rhythm, when we were put on the clock on the 12th hole.”
On his front nine show, Lahiri said, “The first 11 holes were great. Five birdies till then gave me an outside chance. I holed a few nice putts inside 10 feet but missed another one or two between 15 and 20. But the going was good. Then I fell back (with a bogey).
Boosted by his first top 10 finish of the season, Lahiri felt that it could be a turning point in his career. “The game is definitely turning a corner. I am feeling good. Hopefully, I can build on this going further,” he stated.