Lahiri in familiar territory

THERE was a sense of deja vu for Anirban Lahiri as for the second day in a row, he missed a chance to grab a share of the CIMB Classic lead at TPC Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

A day after closing his opening round with two bogeys, Lahiri met with more frustration when he threeputted the 18th hole for a double bogey which left him two strokes behind halfway leader and defending champion Justin Thomas.

Lahiri, who is second on 12-under 132 after a second successive 66, said it was a disappointing way to finish his round but otherwise he did not do too much wrong, having also sank eight birdies.

“More of the same obviously, without weak finishes,” said Lahiri, who lost in the playoff at the Macau Open last weekend. “If I can switch that around the next two days, try and get in the hunt on Sunday afternoon.

“I think I’m playing well. Hopefully I can just keep the intensity through the weekend.”

The 2015 Malaysian Open champion said his errors at the end of each round had nothing to do with the break he took to nurse a shoulder injury after the Rio Olympics.

“I’ve played enough now,” said Lahiri, in his third tournament back since returning to action. “This is three weeks on the trot, so it’s not that. I think it’s just I have to manage my decision-making a little bit better. I hit driver off the tee on 18 and probably wasn’t the right play for me.

“I just tried to be aggressive because I was feeling good but made a bad swing. And then it was a bit of a disaster on the greens.