Lahiri shoots 67, moves up to 16th in CIMB Classic

Lahiri holds a massive 621,000 US Dollars lead over second-ranked Scott Hend of Australia, who shot level par 72 to trail Lahiri by a further five shots. Andrew Dodt of Australia, ranked third on the Merit list, is further down the leaderboard after a 74 on Saturday, which gives Lahiri the upper hand in the Merit race.

At the top, Steele fought into a share of the third round lead with Thomas following a birdie slugfest on Saturday. Steele, chasing a second PGA TOUR victory, produced a blemish free six-under-par 66 to earn the 54-hole lead with halfway leader Thomas, who birdied his closing two holes for a 67. 

American Kevin Na, the Asian Tour’s Rookie of the Year in 2002 and now firmly established on the PGA TOUR, launched himself into the title mix for a third straight week with a nine-birdie round of 64 that left him one back of the co-leaders.

Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama, ranked 15th in the world, shot a 68 to lie joint fourth with James Hahn (64), Brian Harman (66) and Spencer Levin (68) in the CIMB Classic, which is jointly sanctioned by the PGA TOUR and Asian Tour. Such has been the low scoring on the West course this week that Steele and Thomas established a new 54-hole tournament record with their staggering 20-under-par 

196 aggregate.