JAMES BYRNE STILL STRUGGLING TO FIND FORM ON ASIAN TOUR

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR 

New Delhi: India’s Anirban Lahiri continued his dominance when he posted a five-under-par 67 to take the third round at the SAIL-SBI Open today.

Lahiri will take a three-shot lead heading into the final round after he signed for a three-day total of 15-under-par 201 at the Delhi Golf Club.  

Australia’s Scott Barr began to pile on the pressure on the Indian leader when he returned with his best score of 65 to take a share of second place alongside Thailand’s Prom Meesawat on 204.

India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and P. Gulfam signed for matching 207s to take tied-fourth at the US$300,000 full field Asian Tour event.

 Lahiri, who started in the front-nine, opened with a birdie but dropped a shot on the par-four second.

 The 23-year-old then responded with two further birdies on the third and fourth holes before adding another on the ninth hole to turn in 33.

Lahiri seemed to be surging ahead after carding another three birdies in five holes after the turn. However two successive bogeys on the 15^th and 16^th holes led to some anxious moments for the Indian before he restored order with a closing birdie on the 18^th.

 “I’ll take my 67 anytime today. I made a few silly mistakes which cost me a few bogeys. I could have done without those but overall I’m still happy,” said Lahiri.

 “It’s never nice to give away shots but that was how it was today and I’ve take that and come back tomorrow and play well again,” added Lahiri who is seeking a wire-to-wire victory at the SAIL-SBI Open.

 Barr is hoping that his red-hot putter will continue to sink in those crucial putts as he seeks to win his maiden Asian Tour title this week.

 “It was great. I probably left a couple of shots out there but today I holed a couple of nice putts. I’m putting better than ever and it’s nice,” said the Australian.

Barr reached the turn in 34 after birdies on the third and fourth holes. He then stormed home with a birdie blitz that included five birdies in his last seven holes.

“Anything is possible tomorrow and we’ll wait till we get to the back-nine. Hopefully I can put some pressure there and we’ll take it from there,” said Barr.

England's Stephen Lewton made a big leap up to a share of 10th place on 211 after a third-round 66. His earlier rounds had been 72-73.

But Banchory's James Byrne is still not reproducing his quality amateur form in his early weeks as a rookie tour pro based in Singapore. He had the same opening rounds as Stephen Lewton - 72-73 - but his third-round 78 for a 54-hole tally of 223 dropped him down to last of the 65 qualifiers at halfway.

The SAIL-SBI Open is the second of the four events scheduled to be played in India on the Asian Tour this season.

LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS

Par 216 (3x72) Yardage 6,935 Delhi Golf Club course.

201 Anirban Lahiri (India) 65 69 67.

204 Scott Barr (Australia) 71 68 65, Prom Meesawatt (Thailand) 72 64 68.

Selected scores

211 Stephen Lewton (England) 72 73 66 (T10).

223 James Byrne (Scotland) 72 73 78 (last of 65).