Russell Knox sharing second place, four off 

lead at Kuala Lumpur

ASIAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE

Kuala Lumpur: India’s Anirban Lahiri romped to a four-shot lead at the CIMB Classic today, firing a brilliant seven-under-par 65 in the third round to set himself up for a maiden US PGA Tour title.

The reigning Asian Tour number one enjoyed another birdie binge with nine on his card against a double bogey at TPC Kuala Lumpur to lead from defending champion Justin Thomas of the United States and Scot Russell Knox, who shot a 71 and 68 respectively in the US$7 million tournament sanctioned by the Asian Tour and US PGA Tour.

Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama battled to a 69 to share of fourth place with Americans James Hahn (69) and Derek Fathauer (68) while the day’s low round belonged to current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Scott Hend of Australia, who sizzled with a 63 to move up to joint 17^th position.

Two back at the start of the day, the 29-year-old Lahiri was delighted he finished the day with four birdies over his last five holes as he erased the disappointment of dropping shots late in his opening two rounds.

“It's very important. Obviously it was on my mind today, it was on my mind since I finished my round yesterday actually. I was determined to keep my focus right through the 18 holes,” said Lahiri.

With his best finish to date on the US PGA Tour being tied fifth at the 2015 US PGA Championship, Lahiri is hoping to join countryman Arjun Atwal as the only Indians to win on the US PGA Tour but he knows he must go low again on Sunday.

Title-holder Thomas birdied his closing five holes after being four-over through 12 holes to stay on Lahiri’s coat=-tail. “It was really just terrible golf for the first 13 holes. It was a very weird feeling. I just put myself so far behind the eight-ball,” said the 23-year-old, who is ranked 35^th in the world.

“It was great to have that finish. I gave myself a chance. I hope I can ride the momentum into tomorrow. Anirban is playing great. It's the best I've seen him play. He just made it look so simple. I didn't realise he made nine birdies until we finished,” said Thomas, who won last year’s CIMB Classic with a tournament record of 26-under-262 last year.

World number 20, Knox, a winner twice on the US PGA Tour victory, is prepared to launch a final day charge after failing to hit his stride for much of the third day. “I didn't feel great over the ball. So it was a bit of a struggle. My body just didn't feel as good as yesterday.

“This is a course where you've got to play great on the last day to win because there's going to be people that do it. I need to be super aggressive tomorrow,” said the Florida-based man from Inverness.

 

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD

par 216 (3x72) Yardage 7,005

197 - Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 66-66-65.

201 - Justin THOMAS (USA) 64-66-71, Russell KNOX (SCO) 70-63-68.

202 - Derek FATHAUER (USA) 64-70-68, James HAHN (USA) 69-64-69, Hideki MATSUYAMA (JPN) 69-64-69.

203 - Scott PIERCY (USA) 68-68-67.

204 - Keegan BRADLEY (USA) 64-72-68.

205 - Tyrone VAN ASWEGEN (RSA) 69-70-66, Adam SCOTT (AUS) 70-69-66, Emiliano GRILLO (ARG) 74-65-66, Ryo ISHIKAWA (JPN) 69-68-68, Rafa CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 69-67-69, Zac BLAIR (USA) 70-66-69, Brendan STEELE (USA) 67-69-69, Marc LEISHMAN (AUS) 69-65-71.

206 - John HUH (USA) 71-69-66, Sergio GARCIA (ESP) 67-72-67, Scott HEND (AUS) 74-69-63, Jamie LOVEMARK (USA) 68-69-69, Ryan MOORE (USA) 71-65-70.

207 - Adam HADWIN (CAN) 71-69-67, Patrick REED (USA) 68-73-66, Sunghoon KANG (SKOR) 70-69-68, Aaron BADDELEY (AUS) 67-71-69, Patrick RODGERS (USA) 70-68-69, Paul CASEY (ENG) 65-72-70.

208 - Hudson SWAFFORD (USA) 71-69-68, Jim HERMAN (USA) 70-72-66, Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 73-69-66, Kevin KISNER (USA) 68-70-70.