Anirban Lahiri shoots 67, needs big weekend to challenge for title

Kuala Lumpur Anirban Lahiri turned in a brilliant fiveunder front nine but then ran out of birdies to find himself as many as eight shots behind the leader Justin Thomas whose sparkling 11under 61 gave him a oneshot lead at the 7 million US Dollars CIMB Classic on FridayLahiri at sevenunder 137 is Tied21st after 36 holes Thomas is 15under is one ahead of Brendan Steele 6763 at 14under and two clear of Spencer Levin 6764 and Hideki Matsuyama 6566 at 13underThe other Indian in the field SSP Chawrasia had another miserable day with a round of twoover 74 that included a quadruple nine on par5 10th hole which was his starting holeLahiri winner of the Malaysian Open at this same venue before he added the Hero Indian Open two weeks later will need a very strong weekend to challenge over the next two days Lahiri had a 14under for the weekend enroute to winning Malaysian Open and that included a 10under 62 on third dayLahiri found the kind of the momentum he needed on the front nine but the return journey was once again dry as he finished with a fiveunder 67 Lahiris front nine included a fine eagle after he started with birdies on second and third He landed the eagle on third He said I hit a good drive Anything on that fairway is good It was just an in between number between my four and 5iron So I just decided to kind of hit a low 5iron and try and run it up that slope and I hit it absolutely perfect obviously nice to tap that in and be 4under after 4 Thats 4under after 5 thats the kind of start youre looking forHe further said So Im going to need to do that again tomorrow and continue it I think it was the way the course is playing with no rough it all down to your putting Guys are shooting 10 11under because youre holing those 10 15 footers And I think I did some of that on the front nine but back nine was just absolutely drySo just got to putt a little bit better Im feeling good obviously with my game energy level is good which Im happy about So hopefully Ill have another big weekend like I did at the Malaysian OpenTalking of back nine he said Yeah I got off to a good start what I was looking for really And just on the back nine was terrible on the greens I think I gave myself a lot of chances on 10 11 13 and 14 but just didnt make anythingAnd I got a little frustrated I think after the 14th miss And we were standing on the tee for a long time because a lot of groups got held up because it was drivable And I just lost my concentration sitting around Got a little stiffMade a bogey on 15 Thats not what I needed So I was happy that I made birdie on 17 At the finish I saved a good par on 18 But I just gave easily gave two or three shots away on the back nineScott Hend of Australia ranked second on the Asian Tours Order of Merit and Paul Peterson of the United States ended the day tied for 21st place alongside Lahiri at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club West courseHend who knows he must win this week to extend the fight for the Order of Merit crown where Lahiri leads by over 621000 USD shot four birdies but dropped two shots to find himself tied alongside Lahiri and PetersonThomas stunning 11underpar 61 was a career low and he snatched the halfway lead with a tournament record of 15underpar 129 The 22yearold Thomas produced a master class performances in rewriting a new low score at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Clubs West course sinking one eagle and nine birdies to lead by one from countryman Brendan Steele who came home in 63Overnight leader Scott Piercy settled for a 69 to lie two off the pace alongside Spencer Levin 64 and Japans HidekiMatsuyama 66 in the tournament sanctioned by the Asian Tour and PGA TOURThomas seeking a maiden victory on the PGA TOUR in his first visit to Asia was delighted to walk away with the halfway lead It was obviously a great day It was one of those days when you kind of get unconscious and get rolling out there They dont happen too often said Thomas whose twoday total is the lowest in CIMB Classic history in relation to par although the preferred lie ruling has been in effect in the opening two roundsWhen the world number 64 reached 11under through 15 the magical score of 59 seemed a possibility but Thomas could not snare the two more birdies required in his last three holes It 59 first came up in my mind after I birdied 11 and 12 when I got to eightunder through 11 I felt like that I had a chance You dont think about it too much really so I tried not to After I birdied 14 and 15 I knew I just needed to get two of my last three And I mean theyre all pretty easy holes So it was obviously unfortunate not to get that number but Im sure Ill have many more chances in my career said Thomas who has needed only 25 putts per round so far this week