Anirban Lahiri tossed together a 5-under-par 31-36=67 during round three of THE PLAYERS Championship, climbing to 9-under 207 which stakes his claim as the clubhouse leader as the field readies to go right back out for the final round.
Lahiri did most of the heavy lifting before the turn, racking up five birdies before trading two birdies with two bogeys on the homeward nine. “I got off to a really good start yesterday, kept the momentum going, and came back out this morning. I was to be honest not my sharpest, and hitting that fat shot on 12 to start the day kind of was a slap in my face, woke me up. Yeah, I think I’m happy with the way I finished and just looking forward to the rest of the day.” For the week, he ranks 16th in strokes gained off-the-tee, 7th on approach, and 14th in putting. This will be his second time posting a 54-hole lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR (2016-17 CIMB Classic, finished T3). Lahiri arrived with a 1-for-5 record at THE PLAYERS and had missed the cut in three of his four lead-in events. He’s gone 15 straight worldwide events without finding anything better than a T40, so this week’s performance certainly came out of the blue.