By Rahul Banerji
Anirban Lahiri translated the grind of his Covid-enforced time away from golf into hard numbers with an 8-under round on Moving Day at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship on Saturday.
The 33-year-old rose 47 places for a share of seventh alongside four others, six shots back of leader Adam Long at the $4 million event.
Lahiri was on 11-under with rounds of 69, 72 and 64, his best on the PGA Tour since a second-day 61 (-9) at the Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in 2018.
He also currently leads the field in putts per green in regulation.
Arjun Atwal who made the cut alongside Lahiri was 6-under overall with a 69 on Saturday after a 73 and 68.
Overcoming errors
Having started on Thursday with a triple bogey and bogey in his opening three holes before fighting back for an opening 69, Lahiri was chuffed to be in the top-10.
“It was great. It was especially nice to have a clean card,” he told the PGA Tour website on Saturday.
“ I’ve made a bunch of silly errors over the last two days and I’ve been playing better than my score would suggest, so I knew that I had to come out and kind of tighten up, focus a little bit more.
“Hit my irons a lot better today, put some work in yesterday afternoon and I’m glad it paid off.
Lahiri followed his opening 69 with an error-ridden back nine on day two that contained four birdies against as many bogeys.
Flawless
On Saturday though, he made amends with a flawless 64 that had eight birdies against no dropped shots.
“I’ve been driving it great all week. I’ve driven it really, really well, so if you do that right, then the only thing left is to hit the greens and I haven’t quite done justice with a lot of my irons and my wedges.
“Had a little grind session yesterday, chatted with my coach (Vijay Divecha) and just got back to basics and felt a lot more comfortable today.
“Once I hit a few good ones, it was easy to get into a good rhythm and it felt great.
“I’m just happy that I have a chance, an outside chance one way or the other, and I played well so I can take a lot of pride in that.”
Lahiri, who is yet to win on the PGA Tour will be looking for his first top-10 finish since a T10 at the 2018 Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico.
Even split
On Saturday, the Florida-based Bangalorean split his birdies evenly.
He gained shots on the 3rd, 6th, 7th and 8th holes on the front nine and added another four on the 11th, 14th, 16th and 18th holes.
Uo ahead, China’s Xinjun Zhang fired seven birdies en route to a 4-under 68 to stay in contention after the third round.
Chasing a first PGA Tour victory, the 33-year-old mainland Chinese was four shots back of Long, who carded a 64 to grab a two-shot lead over Hudson Swafford.
“I’m in a great spot for tomorrow, being in contention,” said Zhang, 33.
On Saturday, Long (64), Lahiri (64), Nate Lashley (65), Jonathan Byrd (70), Denny McCarthy (70) and Vincent Whaley (71) all brought in bogey-free cards.
Also read: Lahiri fights through rough patch to sit mid-pack in Dominica
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