Lahiri finishes tied eighth, Que wins title at Selangor Masters

PETALING JAYA - Anirban Lahiri’s finishing woes continued for the second day running and for the third time in four days as he dropped a double bogey near the finish and ended in a tie for eighth place at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters golf here Saturday.

What hurt Lahiri most was that his four dropped shots - double bogeys on the 18th in the third and final round - was just the difference between him and the winner, Angelo Que of the Philippines, who claimed a play-off victory over England’s Chris Rodgers.

“Next year when I come back, I need to make friends with the 18th hole during the practice round because it probably cost me the victory this year,” said Lahiri.

“I played well from the start, hit a lot of fairways and found most of the greens. I hit a few bad drives on the back nine and that pulled me down. I double bogeyed the 18th hole again just like yesterday.”

Lahiri had also double bogeyed the 16th on the first day. “It is not easy when you have to start and stop play (weather suspension). You have to learn to cope and get back in the groove. All in all, I’m happy with the way I finished but I still got some work to do. This is a course that is tough on the mind. You have to stay calm and I’m glad I came through the week mentally strong.”

The 31-year-old Que outlasted a battling Rodgers with a par at the first extra hole after both players finished tied on six-under-par 278 in regulation play at the Seri Selangor Golf Club.

Lahiri’s final round 70 saw him finish the week at two-under 282 in tied eighth place, the best finish from among the 10 Indians who teed off this week.

The next best effort came from Gaganjeet Bhullar (72) was tied 21st up four places from his overnight 24th after finishing at two-over 286. Rahil Gangjee (74) ended 50th at nine-over 293 and Gaurav Pratap Singh ((76) was 65th dead last from among those who made the cut.

Kunal Bhasin, Australian of Indian origin shot a final round of 72 despite two bogeys on the back nine for a total of one-under 283 and he finished tied 11th.

Lahiri with four birdies and just one bogey on the front nine seemed to be making a charge as he turned in three-under 33. A bogey on tenth and a birdie on 11th followed by a series of pars saw him at four-under and in the running for a top-five. But he double bogeyed the hole and dropped down.

Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant finished third, one shot out of the play-off, after a 68 which included a costly double bogey on his last hole while Australians Scott Barr and Brad Smith shared fourth place with Filipino Juvic Pagunsan on 280.

Taking a one-shot lead into the final round, Que, whose last victory was at the 2008 Philippine Open, carded a 70 in the final round and was caught by playing partner Rodgers, who closed with a 69.

But the Englishman was forced to settle for his fourth runner-up finish in Asia after making mistakes in the play-off to allow Que to snatch victory and the winner’s cheque of $59,717.