Lahiri fights through wicked wind, rises to 7th

Doral (USA), Anirban Lahiri made another upward move in the third round but was still left dissatisfied as he dropped two shots in the last six holes, leaving him tied-seventh at five-under 211 in the WGC Cadillac Championship here.
On a rather breezy day, Lahiri was cruising as one of the better scorers at three-under through 12 and reached as high as fourth on Saturday. But a bogey on the 13th and another dropped shot on the 17th saw him drop to tied-seventh. Lahiri was tied-ninth after the second round.
Rory McIlroy (68) carded a bogey-free round, his first in 2016, to move into a three-shot lead. At 12-under, he was three clear of Adam Scott (73) and defending champion Dustin Johnson (71).
Lahiri, who will defend his Indian Open title in a fortnight’s time, said: “Yeah, happy with the way I played today. But obviously disappointed too; left a few putts out there. But all in all a good day. I think the course played its hardest today, so I’m happy with the way I played.”
“This is the third day in a row that we’ve had a different wind. So, honestly, I have no idea what to expect in the final round in terms of the conditions. Obviously the course is getting a lot firmer. I think at the end of the day, it’s going to be about not making mistakes. If you don’t drop a shot, there are plenty of opportunities for you to make a birdie. I’m just hoping I can shoot a bogey-free round.”
The Blue Monster golf course at Doral finally showed it teeth as the wind blew the hardest it has all week. Add to that the tucked pin positions, and it meant that only a third of the field of 63 broke par. Lahiri was one of them.
“I got it to seven-under and in the last six holes, I didn’t play my best. I could have pushed harder to get to eight or nine. I am still giving myself an outside chance, so hopefully I can go out there and play my best,” Lahiri added.
In windy conditions, Lahiri did not drive as accurately as on the first two days and neither did he find as many greens in regulation, but the 28-year-old scrambled very well to stay under-par.
Playing with former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel for the third day in a row, Lahiri opened with a birdie. But he gave that shot away with a bogey on the second — he found himself in the left rough off the tee and again off his second shot before missing a 10-footer for par. After three pars, he chipped in from the bunker for a superb birdie on the sixth and added another birdie from seven feet on the eighth to turn at two-under for the day.
An 11-foot birdie on the 10th saw him reach three-under, which put him at sole fourth. He bogeyed the 13th, missed a birdie putt from inside eight feet on the 16th before missing an even shorter par putt on the 17th.
McIlroy, a four-time Major winner, trailed Scott by two shots overnight but needed only five holes to pass the Australian after making birdies on the first and fifth holes as Scott dropped a shot on the fourth.
McIlroy, who has switched to a cross-handed putting grip, added further birdies on the eighth and 10th holes.
England’s Danny Willett (72) shares the fourth position with Americans Phil Mickelson (70) and Bubba Watson (71).