Eagle lifts Lahiri to the top

Tournament favourite Anirban Lahiri of India fired a fantastic eagle yesterday to cling onto his lead and take a one-shot advantage over local veteran Thaworn Wiratchant into the last day of the US$500,000 King’s Cup at the Singha Park Khon Kaen Golf Course.

A 10-foot-eagle putt on the 18th catapulted the Bangalore-based golfer to the top of the leaderboard, which had been dominated by the 47-year-old Thaworn for most of the day. The Indian’s third-round 68 took him to a three-day aggregate of 16-under 200.

“I knew Thaworn was off to a hot start and I was struggling on the front-nine, which was why I thought he could have got to seven, eight or nine-under for the day because he can get really hot. I was just trying to catch up and stay up and it was really nice to finish off with an eagle as I really needed that boost. I’m actually surprised to find myself in the lead as I didn’t play well today, especially on the front-nine,” said the three-day leader, vying to become another winner from India in Thailand after Rashid Khan won in Chiang Mai two weeks ago.

The five-time Asian Tour winner, who will reduce the gap between him and American David Lipsky on the Order of Merit after this tournament, has a lot of respect for Thaworn as they tee off in the last group in the hunt for the trophy today.

“I really enjoy playing with Thaworn. He’s a fantastic person to play with and obviously a legend. It’s always fun to watch him play. I’ve been around for a while and we’ve become good friends. So we keep laughing and joking a lot. Maybe not so much tomorrow. The respect is mutual and I think it will be fantastic tomorrow,” said Lahiri, who won in Indonesia and Macau this year.

Two-time Order-of-Merit winner Thaworn was hot on Lahiri’s heels at the front nine where he reeled off five straight birdies from the second to sixth holes but managed to sink only one at the back before finishing with an error free 66. He trailed the Indian by a stroke with a 15-under 201.

“It was a combination of me playing well and having good luck to shoot those successive birdies. But I didn’t putt the way I would have wanted to on the back nine. The tee-off positions here seemed to favour big hitters than me,” said the 17-time Asian Tour winner, who is determined to win trophies of Their Majesties. 

He has won three Queen’s Cups in Samui in 2008, 2012 and 2014 but is yet to add the King’s trophy to his collection.

“I’ve have won Her Majesty the Queen’s trophy already. I love to win every tournament I enter but to win this tournament would add great dignity to my career. I will try my best to win tomorrow but it also depends on how my body reacts on the final day,” said Thaworn, who settled for second here two years ago after losing to Arnond Vonvanij.

A stroke further were a pack that included the local threesome of Jakraphan Premsirigorn, 69, Sutijet Kooratanapisan, 65, and Panuphol Pittayarat, 66, and Australia’s Andrew Dodt, 69, at 13-under 203.

 “I was really excited at the start to play alongside an experienced player like Lahiri. But I think I reacted well to be among the leaders. I’m quite happy with my 69 I shot today and I still believe that with a three-shot margin I can still catch up with the leader,” said the 23-year-old Jakraphan.

Thai prodigy Danthai Boonma, the Asian Games bronze medallist, had a roller-coaster day before settling with a 68 and 12-under 204, He was at joint seventh along with Prom Meesawat, 67 and Paul Peterson, 67, of the US.