Lahiri falters on last stretch, ends creditable fifth

Ace Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri faltered at the final stretch after leading on the back nine as he finished tied-5th in The CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges here today.
The Indian, who was having a share of the lead with the eventual winner Justin Thomas and Marc Leishman, faltered over the last five holes with two bogeys and a crippling double.
He dropped from two-under to two-over for the day and from 9-under to 5-under for the tournament and finished Tied- 5.
Lahiri finished in a six-way tie for fifth place alongside last week's winner at CIMB, Pat Perez (68), Jamie Lovemark (71), Brian Harman (71), Luke List (72) and overnight co-leader Scott Brown (76).

It was his second consecutive Top-10 finish in the new season and third one in a row overall, but disappointing all the same.
"That is two disappointing Sundays in a row. But I am happy to see the game trending in the right direction. Lets try again," Lahiri said later.

Justin Thomas, who has been unstoppable from the time he snatched the CIMB Classic from under Lahiri's nose 12 months ago in 2016, won yet again.
He edged out Marc Leishman on the second play-off hole after both players birdied the 18th. Actually, Thomas almost eagled for an outright win in regulation play.

Australian youngster Cameron Smith (70) was third, while Korea's Kim Whee (72), who won the latest BMW with a hole-in- one at the CIMB Classic last week, was the best local player in fourth place.
Patrick Reed (70), Jason Day (71) and Rafa Cabrera Bello (71) and An Byeong Hun (73) were tied 11th.
The start in the morning was dramatic as Thomas double bogeyed the third and co-leader Scott Brown double bogeyed back to back on fifth and sixth. In contrast, Lahiri birdied on third.
In the group ahead, Leishman had a birdie-birdie start, but bogeys on fifth, seventh and eighth meant he dropped back, too.

At that stage, Lahiri was very much the fancied man as the players approached the turn. Thomas picked a birdie on ninth to join Lahiri and Leishman at eight-under.
Thomas recovered his lead on back nine with birdies on 10 and 11, but Lahiri birdied 12th. Leishman birdied 12th and 14th and the battle became tighter. But Thomas again opened the door once again with a bogey on 13th.
Over the last five holes, as tension heightened, Lahiri faltered. He bogeyed 14th and made it worse with a double on 15th, where he failed with a chip on his third shot. Thomas and Leishman parred till 16th.

Lahiri was down to six-under while Thomas and Leishman were at 9-under. The latter duo bogeyed 17th, which Lahiri parred, making the gap to two shots with one hole to play.
On the 18th, Lahiri's last chance was an eagle while hoping for only pars from his playing partners. Lahiri ended with a bogey, Thomas missed an eagle putt but got his birdie and Leishman calmly birdied. Lahiri fell to 5-under, while Thomas and Leishman went into a play-off at 9-under.
Thomas then birdied on second play-off hole to win his third PGA Tour title in Asia.