Lahiri continues blazing form at CIMB

After firing seven birdies in his last round at Macao on Sunday, Anirban Lahiri kept the momentum going with six more birdies in his first eight holes at the CIMB Classic golf tournament here on Thursday.

Despite a bogey-bogey finish on the front nine of the course, which was his second nine, Lahiri carded six-under 66 to be tied fifth at the end of the first day. Lahiri was eight-under after 14 holes and seemed set for the lead when he bogeyed the last two holes.

The first round leaders were defending champion Justin Thomas, Derek Fathauer and Keegan Bradley in the USD 7 million tournament sanctioned by the PGA Tour and Asian Tour, the only PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament in Southeast Asia. 

After a brilliant first nine with birdies on 11th and 12th and then four in a row from 14th to 17th, Lahiri was six-under 30 at the turn at the TPC Kuala Lumpur where he won the Malaysian Open last season.Lahiri, a seven-time Asian Tour winner, was very disappointed with the finish.

“That front nine (his second nine), I could have done a lot more (better). To finish the day like that (bogey-bogey) is obviously a bitter taste in my mouth. But it’s still a decent start. I would have liked to definitely be a couple shots better, if not three,” said Lahiri.