Lahiri bogeyed on 15 and birdie on 16 and took the lead at 9-under 207 to complete her remaining seven holes at par. Sebastian Munozzi (65), Doug Ghim (68), Paul Casey (69) and Sam Burns (71) in the Tour’s premier $20 million tournament.
It will be only the second time in his career that an Indian will maintain a 54-hole lead as he looks to join the country’s Arjun Atwal (2010 Wyndham Championships) as the only Indian to win on the PGA Tour.
Lahiri is progressing to the final round.1. @anirbangolf -9T2. @jsmunozgolf -8T2. @DougGhim-8T2. @Paul_Casey -8… https://t.co/RehTbCP5iG
— player (@THEPAYERSChamp) 16472695360000
He is also bidding to become the third Asian after Korea to win The Players. KJ Choi (2011) and si woo kim (2017).
“There’s not much to get ahead of myself. I’m just trying to be in the moment and just doing what I need to do next. I think the short turnaround time really helps.” Because you really don’t have time to do anything else.
Lahiri said, “You’re just on a schedule and you’re trying to make sure you’re resting and preparing and feeling and doing all the things that you need to do. . It’s been really cool.” Ghim and Munoz in the last group at 1.01 p.m. local time.
Lahiri, whose best performance on the tour was a T2 at the 2017 Memorial Tournament, entered the final round at the 2016 CIMB Classic in Malaysia and finished third.
The welcome change in form has put Lahiri in a good place as he seeks his career success despite struggling throughout the season without a single top-10.
And it seems that all he did for a change in fortunes was adding 3.5 grams of weight to his barbell and making a slight adjustment to keep a more open stance at address.
“I love golf, and you’re not happy when you know you can play well and you don’t. Then when you start playing well again and you start hitting it again , then you’re happy. I mean, it’s so simple.
“I’m at the place right now where I’m hitting it good, I’m looking good at it, I feel good at it, and it makes me happy,” he said.
“My humiliation was pretty much the same as when I came here seven years ago. Basically that’s what we thought and talked and said, let’s experiment. It can’t be worse than what it is. I hit it so bad I’m going to be honest.
“I was like, you know, let’s throw some lead tape on and see what happens because I thought I was swinging well, and yeah, it made a big difference.”
South Africa’s Louis Osthuizen, who entered the final round three shots behind Lahiri, is not surprised to see the Indian challenge for his first win among the players. “He’s a great player. He’s obviously gone through a lot of things and wasn’t playing well there for a while, but when he gets going, he can shoot down.
“He’s really a fighter. You know, he doesn’t get down on himself. He goes and just plays and whatever happens, he’s focused on the next shot and the next hole. He’s a great character.” ,” said Osthuizen, who has been in two international teams in the President’s Cup before with Lahiri.