Anirban Lahiri coasts to six-stroke win

Pune: Continuing with his red-hot form, Anirban Lahiri fired a five-under 67 in the final round to clinch the Aircel PGTI Players Championship by a comfortable six-stroke margin here on Friday. Lahiri ended his engagements with a total of 21-under 267 as he claimed his fourth title on PGTI tour. Himmat Singh Rai shot a one-under 71 while totalling a 15-under 273 to finish runner-up. Lahiri (65-68-67-67) began the final round with a hat-trick of birdies on the front nine. His putting was exceptional as he sank birdie putts from 25 feet and 15 feet on the first and third holes respectively.He was five strokes ahead of his nearest rival Himmat at the turn and had all but sealed it at that stage. Lahiri made four birdies against two bogeys on the back nine to sail to a comfortable win.“I performed well in all aspects of the game today. My hitting was quite good and I sank some long putts as well. This has been a really good week for me as I never lost focus as far as my targets were concerned,” Lahiri said. Himmat (66-69-67-71) got off to a slow start today with bogeys on the third and fourth but then pulled it back with four birdies against a lone bogey from the fifth through the 18th. Digvijay Singh fired a 67 in the final round to finish third at 10-under 278 and was followed by Shamim Khan at eight-under 280. Gaganjeet Bhullar and Mukesh Kumar shared the 12th place at three-under 285. PTI