Lahiri rises to tied third at Indonesian Masters, three off the pace

By Rahul Banerji

For a second day running, lightning forced an early end at the Indonesian Masters by which time Anirban Lahiri had climbed into a share of third place in Jakarta on Friday.

Veer Ahlawat continued his excellent run at the $1.5 million International Series event of the Asian Tour, also in tied third but with five holes to go in his incomplete second round.

Thailand’s Sarit Suwannarut went five under par and Mathiam Keyser from South Africa hit a 68 to take the clubhouse lead at the halfway mark on the day.

Lahiri is on eight-under 136 (66-70) alongside Ahlawat with Indonesia Open winner Gaganjeet Bhullar on six-under 138 and tied for 12^th place with five holes to go as well.

DGC Open runner-up Ajeetesh Sandhu (71-68) was a further shot behind with Karandeep Kochhar (69-70) in tied 17^th place and Honey Baisoya was T23 on four-under 140 (70-70) at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.

Chikkarangappa S,. Udayan Mane and Rashid Khan were the others making the cut at one-under 143, while S.S.P. Chawrasia, M. Dharma Khalin Joshi, Viraj Madappa, and Aman Raj missed out.

Point hunt

With the LIV Golf roster still unable to access Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, several of them are in Jakarta including former winner Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Phachara Khongwatmai and Scott Vincent amongst other hoping to do so.

Sarit and Keyser top the leaderboard on 11 under at the Asian Tour season-finale while Jazz, event winner in 2019, fired a 65 for third place three shots behind the leaders.

Northern Ireland’s McDowell (67) and Sadom Kaewkanjana from Thailand (69) were one stroke back, the Asian Tour said.

Jazz and Sadom both need to win the event to have a chance to claim the Asian Tour Order of Merit, currently led by American Sihwan Kim, who was one of those players unable to finish on the day.

Kim is on the bubble in a projected cut line of 143 with two holes left in his second round.

Finishing in the top 30 on the Asian Tour’s merit list will earn spots in next year’s Saudi International.

England’s Westwood, a three-time winner of the Indonesian Masters, shot a 66 for four under 140 and South African Ernie Els returned a 70 to be two under par.

Also read: Ahlawat makes strong start to Indonesian Masters campaign