INDIAN star Anirban Lahiri birdied three of his last five holes to maintain a tight grip in the weather-disrupted Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters at the Seri Selangor Golf Club yesterday.
He holed a 20-feet birdie putt on the last hole for a three-under-par 68 to emerge as the second round leader on 10-under-par 132 in the RM1.3 million Asian Tour event.
Malaysia’s Shaaban Hussin slam-dunked an eagle from 120 metres as he stayed within touching distance of Lahiri after he battled to a one-under 70 for a two-day total of four-under 138 to lie in tied ninth place, six shots behind the pacesetter.
Ben Leong, the 2008 Selangor Masters champion, continued his comeback from injury with a second round 69 to safely make the cut with his 141 total while the other Malaysians who made the halfway cut were Hans Jamil (142), Danny Chia (142), Sukree Othman (143), Khor Kheng Hwai (143), Nicholas Fung (144) and Md Azman Basharudin (144).
Iylia Jamil was even par for the tournament with several holes to complete while Kenneth De Silva was one-over with three holes to complete today following a weather delay in the afternoon.
Tour rookie Cameron Smith of Australia trailed Lahiri closely by two shots following a 66 while another Indian S.S.P. Chowrasia was a further two shots back in third place after shooting a 70
Australia’s Jake Higginbottom produced a flawless 65 which included an outward 31 to share fourth position with Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat (69) while Chan Yih-Shin of Taiwan and Chris Gaunt of Australia were on five-under with three holes to play.