Lahiri fires 63 as Caleb Surratt takes halfway lead at PIF Saudi International

Riyadh, Nov 20 (PTI) India's Anirban Lahiri shot a sizzling 8-under 63 in the second round to be at tied 12th spot at the PIF Saudi International golf tournament here on Thursday.

Lahiri, who opened with an even par round on Wednesday, jumped 69 places up the leaderboard after being tied-81 overnight. His superb round on Thursday consisted of nine birdies with six of them coming in the back nine and included a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th to 13th.

His only blemish on the day came on the 14th, but he quickly regained his composure by draining back to back birdies on the 15th and 16th, before closing by gaining another shot on the 18th.

Lahiri carded the best round of the day alongside South African Dean Burmester, who was at the tied-6th at 10 under.

Meanwhile, rising American star Caleb Surratt took a one-shot lead into Friday's third-round. He carded a five-under-par 66 to lead on 14-under from Thomas Pieters of Belgium in second place.

"Did some practice today and readjusted my putter. Obviously today rolled it really good and hit my wedges a lot closer as well. So, yeah, was able to get some momentum. Was able to string some birdies together on the back nine. Felt nice to roll a few putts in and make a bunch of birdies coming in," Lahiri said.

"I think yesterday I really struggled on the greens a little bit, struggled with my yardage control.

“I'm just happy with how I played today. I'm going to try and do my best the next two days. Obviously lots of birdies out there so you have to go low," he added.

Belgian Thomas Pieters shot a 66, while American Anthony Kim rolled back the years, shooting a 64 to move into third, another two strokes back, along with England's Tyrrell Hatton and Spaniard Josele Ballester -- both in with 65s.

South African Dean Burmester (63) and Adrian Meronk (70) of Poland were a further stroke behind in a tie for sixth along with Seungbin Choi of Korea (66). Meronk was the joint first-round leader with Surratt in the final event of the season on The International Series, and the third from last stop on the Asian Tour calendar.

Surratt was beaten by Chilean Joaquin Niemann in a sudden-death play-off here last year and has clearly returned seeking redemption. PTI PDS SSC SSC