SCORESHEET
DAY 2
DAY 1

July 1st 2010, Pune, India: Anirban Lahiri emerged as the top title contender at the Aircel PGTI Players Championship presented by Oxford Golf & Country Club after he fired an impressive five under 67 in round three on Thursday to lead by two strokes. Lahiri’s overall score currently stands at 16 under 200. Himmat Singh Rai, who also shot a 67 in the third round, is in second place at 14 under 202.

Anirban Lahiri (65-68-67) did not get off to a great start as his birdies on the second and fifth were negated by bogeys on the third and sixth. The Bangalore-based professional, got back into his stride with a birdie on the ninth.

Anirban came agonizingly close to making a memorable albatross on the par five 11th after his second shot (5-Wood) lipped out and left him a four feet eagle putt. Lahiri settled for an eagle on the 11th and thereafter went on to sink birdies on the 16 th and 17th to close the round as the leader for the third successive day.

“Even though I shot a 67 today, I think I need to lift my game and hit it better off the tee in the final round. This was my best round this week as far as putting is concerned. I putted really well on the back nine. But my hitting was not as good as it was in the previous two rounds,” said Lahiri, who holds the PGTI record for the best four-round total of 24 under.

He went on to add, “I scored well on the par five holes once again. I made an eagle and two birdies on the par 5s. It’s now a matter of shooting one more solid round. In other words, I’ll have to make sure that Himmat requires a very low score in order to beat me in the final round.”

Himmat Singh Rai (66-69-67) of the DLF Golf & Country Club is hot on the heels of the leader as his three-day total reads 14 under 202. Rai made four birdies on the front nine and thus enjoyed a one-stroke lead at the turn. He then slipped back into second place after he dropped a bogey on the 10th and Lahiri sank an eagle on the 11th.

Himmat made birdies on the 15th and 16th to close the round within two strokes of the leader Anirban Lahiri. One of the highlights of Himmat’s round was a 40 feet birdie putt on the seventh.

Karanjit Singh Sandhu is in third place at nine under 207 and Shamim Khan is a further stroke behind in fourth.

Amardip Sinh Malik, Digvijay Singh, Rahil Gangjee and C Muniyappa share fifth position at five under 211.

Gaganjeet Bhullar and Mukesh Kumar are both in tied 12th with identical scores of two under 214.

Rajiv Datar’s three-round total of two over 218 makes him the highest-placed Pune golfer at tied 23rd.

Gurki Shergill of Pune is in tied 30th place at four over 220. Jaideep Patwardhan, another Pune-based professional, is tied 43rd at eight over 224.