Anirban, Shubhankar finish well as Ancer makes it wire to wire

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Abraham Ancer
Mexico and LIV Golf star Abraham Ancer with his Saudi International trophy at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club near Jeddah on Sunday. Image courtesy Twitter.

By Rahul Banerji

Strong performances saw Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma bring in solid finishes at the $5 million PIF Saudi International near Jeddah on Sunday.

The two shot matching four under par 66s at the par-70 Royal Greens Golf & Country Club to share 12th place at the opening event of the Asian Tour’s 2023 season.

While Shubhankar was consistent through the four days with cards of 67, 69, 69 and 66. Anirban had a more adventurous journey, opening with a one-over 71 but then powering home with 69, 65 and Sunday’s 66.

Anirban, India’s sole LIV golfer and now based in Dubai brought in a bogey-free card on Sunday while Sharma swapped five birdies with one bogey in his final 18 holes.

Having missed the cut at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, it was a good recovery for Shubhankar.

Shiv Kapur took a share of 56th place was Rashid Khan finished 71st to complete a forgettable outing.

Convincing victory

The spotlight though was on 31-year-old LIV Golf star Abraham Ancer, who completed a wire-to-wire run at the Royal Greens course and win by two shots from American Cameron Young.

Ancer had a four-day total of 19-under (63-66-64-68) to become the first winner of the event powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers from start to finish.

“That was my first ever wire-to-wire win,” the Mexico golfer later told the Asian Tour website.

“I just didn’t think about where I was on the leaderboard. Played really good the first round, and just felt like I wanted to keep that going.

“I kept telling myself, just imagine if I was in like 20th place and just got to go out there and shoot a low one. It worked out. I stayed in the moment.

“Didn’t really think too much about the previous shots or what was coming after. So, I’m really happy with my frame of mind during these four rounds.”

Young was adrift by two shots with scores of 65, 65, 65 and 68 while Australia’s Lucas Herbert was third on 15-under 265.

Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana underlined just why he is a rising star on the tour to take fourth place with a closing 66.

Ancer opened with a two-shot advantage but Young levelled on the seventh hole before dropping back again. After that, Ancer was never headed and left a million dollars richer with the result.

Also read: Anirban, Shubhankar head Indian run at Saudi International

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2 Replies to “Anirban, Shubhankar finish well as Ancer makes it wire to wire”

  1. Thanks for the lovely coverage. Keep sharing insights on Tournaments as well as Indian players.

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