Fort Wayne (Indiana): A double-bogey on the par-four final hole dropped Anirban Lahiri to two-under 70 as the leading Indian golfer trailed one place behind leader D.H. Lee of South Korea by three strokes after the third round of the $1 million (Dh3.67 million) Hotel Fitness Championship here.
World No. 40 Lahiri, who was second after posting 69 and 65 in the first two rounds, on Saturday took his 54-hole total to 12-under 204 at the Sycamore Hills Golf Club.
Lahiri didn’t get a good start as he bogeyed the par-four first hole. But he overcame it with birdies on the second, fourth and fifth. The 28-year-old dropped another shot on the par-three seventh to finish the front nine at one-under 35.
In the back nine, he charged ahead with birdies the 12th, 15th and 16th holes to equalise with Lee. He made a par effort on the 17th to be four-under. But the 28-year-old took six strokes to clear the 444-yard 18th hole.
It took the sheen off the good work the Indian had done in the back nine as he settled for a 70 in his first tournament of the Web.com Tour Finals — qualifying series for the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour.
“I am disappointed with the way I finished. But I am happy that I hung in there. There were not many good golf shots but managed to scramble and keep myself out of trouble till the last hole. It is still a nice round of golf,” Lahiri told pgatour.com.
Meanwhile in Heonan, South Korea, local player Lee Kyung-hoon carded a nerveless, five-under final round of 66 to take the Kolon Korea Open title on Sunday, four shots clear of his nearest rival.
The 24-year-old started the day with a two-stroke lead at the top of the leader-board and never looked like relinquishing his position, making an eagle at the fifth and then birdying holes seven, eight and nine.
“I am proud of the way I handled the pressure. Four shots is a nice margin but it was all much closer than that,” Lee said.
Compatriot Kim Meen-whee also carded a 66 to move up into second position four shots behind Lee.
Two other Koreans, Wang Jeung-hun and Lee Dong-min, tied for third place three shots back.
