Lahiri finishes T-42nd at Masters; Spieth is the champ

Hoping to keep his record clean and score well on a day, which was far better than the first three, Anirban Lahiri collided with disaster early in the round with a triple bogey on par-4 seventh and then had other bogeys in the first seven holes on the final day of the 80th staging of the Masters..

Thereafter despite two birdies, on ninth and 11th, and nine pars in the remaining 11 holes, Lahiri finished with a card of 75 and a total of 11-over 299. He finished in a tie for 42nd down from overnight T-38th but still bettered his previous best of T-49 last year. Lahiri had started the day at five-over.

Lahiri said, “The two triples (one each on first and last days) and not being able to score off the Par-fives cost me something like 10 shots and that is the difference being in Top-10 or somewhere in the 40s. That should explain it all. I played well in patches and that was not enough.” Lahiri is planning to take two weeks off and practice with his coach, Vijay Divecha, who arrived over the weekend.

“I want to a few chores around the house, as we settle into a new place in Florida, which will be my base for next few months,” said Lahiri. “Also I need to work on my game and will get back to tournaments in two weeks time at New Orleans.” Asian Tour’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat added a two-under 70 in the final round of the Masters to finish T-15, his best ever result in a major event. Thongchai Jaidee, playing his fifth Masters, had another frustrating with a six-over 78 that saw him finish the week at 19-over and in Tied-57th place.

Ahead on the top of the leaderboard, Danny Willett, playing in fourth from last group shot one of the three scores of 67 on Sunday to catapult from Tied-8th to the very top. He finished more than half an hour earlier than defending champion Jordan Spieth to finish and won by three over fellow Englishman Lee Westwood (69) and Spieth (73).

Spieth had moved to seven-under with four birdies in a row from sixth to ninth, while Willett had earlier turned in two-under after a front nine 34. On the back nine, just around the Amen Corner, Spieth gave away six shots in three holes – bogeys at 10 and 11 and a quadruple at par-3 12th, where he went into water twice – while Willett picked three more birdies on back nine and gave away none. Spieth did attempt a charge with two birdies on 13th and 15th,  but he was two behind with three holes to go. Trying too hard and going for broke, he missed a birdie on 16th and then bogeyed 17th and it was all over. Yet, Spieth’s record in three Masters is – T-2, Win and T-2.