Lahiri slips to tied 21st; Surratt, Burmester share lead heading into final round

Riyadh, Nov 21 (PTI) India's Anirban Lahiri carded a fluctuating one-under in the third round to sit tied 21st, eight shots off the lead, going into the final day of the PIF Saudi International here on Friday.

After his scintillating round of 63 on Thursday lying tied-12th, Lahiri looked set to climb up the leaderboard.

But three bogeys in between his four birdies meant he goes into the last round with a score of 9-under 204, still eight behind the leaders Dean Burmester and Caleb Surratt, who are at -17.

Lahiri started the day encouragingly with a birdie on the 2nd before dropping a shot on the par-3 6th hole.

He then responded well with consecutive birdies on 8th and 9th to move inside the top-10 of the leaderboard, but two bogeys in three holes on the 12th and 14th set him back.

He ended the day at the tournament powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers with a birdie on 18th, a hole he has birdied in all three rounds this tournament, and carded 1-under for the day.

Meanwhile, Surratt kept the lead for the third day in a row, giving himself a great opportunity to make up for losing here in a play-off last year.

He shot a three-under-par 68 to finish on 17 under in a tie with South African Burmester, who carded a 64.

Josele Ballester from Spain is in third place, one stroke behind, after a 66.

Englishman Richard Bland (64), Adrian Meronk (68) from Poland, and American Anthony Kim (69) are next best placed, three back.

The USD 5 million event is the most lucrative of the season on the Asian Tour and the final event of the year on The International Series. PTI TAP UNG