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Lahiri cruises to memorable eight-stroke victory
Anirban Lahiri won the PGTI Players Championship at Tollygunge Club by an astounding eight-stroke lead on Friday. After back-to-back five-under scores, Lahiri carded six-under 64 to take his accumulated score to 18-under 262, equaling Mukesh Kumar's course record for four rounds.
Anirban Lahiri won the PGTI Players Championship at Tollygunge Club by an astounding eight-stroke lead on Friday. After back-to-back five-under scores, Lahiri carded six-under 64 to take his accumulated score to 18-under 262, equaling Mukesh Kumar's course record for four rounds. He sunk four birdies and an eagle on the seventh hole to seal the fate of the title even before the game had hit the back nine.
Jyoti Randhawa and Rashid Khan finished tied second with ten-under 270 while local boy Rahil Gangjee ended third with a nine-under 271. "I wanted to attack from the first because you can never afford to sit on a three-stroke lead. Thankfully, my putting has been really well this week," said Lahiri.
Lahiri converted putts from 10 and 15 feet for birdies on the fourth and fifth respectively. He then picked up the eagle thanks to an approach shot that ended up six feet from the flag.
The 23-year-old increased the gap between himself and the rest of the field by sinking another birdie on the 10th. A brilliant sand-wedge second shot then set up Lahiri's final birdie of the day on the 12th. He then made pars on the last six holes but held his ground seal a memorable eight-stroke win.
The duel between Randhawa and Gangjee, however, was the highlight of the day. Starting the day tied fourth at eight-under, both of them kept going at each other and were even after the 14th hole. Randhawa negated two bogeys with two birdies in the last four holes but Gangjee, after a consistent run of par scores, bogeyed at the last hole.
