Brian Gay. Pic: Getty Images
Nov 2: Anirban Lahiri was left ruing the small errors that cost him a Top-10 finish by the slightest of margins in Southampton at the Bermuda Championship.
The irony is that Lahiri tied for most birdies made this week, but he also gave away a lot of bogeys, including a double bogey on the third day. This season he has made the cut in each of his four starts with one Top-10, a T-11 and two other Top-40 finishes. An extra birdie or one more par saved would have seen him inside Top-10 for the second time in this new season.
Former Asian Tour No. 1 Lahiri, who carded 4-under 67 totalled 10-under 274 and finished T11, alongside another Asian Tour topper, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who shot 3-under 68 at Port Royal.
Brian Gay, 48, claimed his fifth PGA TOUR victory with a playoff win over Wyndham Clark as he ended a winless streak since 2013. Gay and Clark ended the week on 15-under 269. Gay had missed the cut in nine of his last 11 tournaments.
Gay came back from a three-shot deficit on the back nine. He birdied the 18th hole for a 7-under 64 to finish in a tie with Wyndham Clark. Gay then beat Clark on the first extra hole with a 12-foot birdie putt in the Bermuda Championship.
While Lahiri, who had finished T-6 at Corales Puntacana in Dominican Republic, maintained his resurgence in form with a closing 67 which moved him up to 31st position in the latest FedExCup rankings, Kiradech his best result in a year with his 10-under 274 total while
“I am happy with the consistency this week. I made too many small errors on and around the greens that added up to hurt me enough. Disappointed not to finish in the top-10,” said. Lahiri, whose last global win came in his home country at the Hero Indian Open in 2015. “It has been a while, but I am feeling better with each start.”
Starting the final round four off the pace, Lahiri started strongly with birdies on Hole Nos. 2, 4 and 7 but dropped a bogey on nine. He made par over the next five holes before closing with three birdies in his last four holes which included a second bogey of the round on Hole No. 16.
“I feel like the game is getting more rounded with every passing week. The biggest challenge and disappointment is not being able to play events and as of now, I’m not in the field for any of the remaining events on the Schedule (for this year). I may try to Monday qualify for Sea Island (the RSM Classic in three weeks’ time).”
Kiradech, who played alongside Lahiri in the final round, started the final day three shots back but could not get his game firing on all cylinders to mount a challenge for a maiden PGA TOUR victory. He made birdies on the fourth and seventh holes but a bogey on nine pulled the brakes on his game. The Thai converted a two-feet birdie on 10 and ended his day with a 20-foot birdie conversion on the last.
Gay claimed his fifth PGA TOUR title and his first since 2013. At 48, Gay is the oldest winner on TOUR since Davis Love III, at 51, won the 2015 Wyndham Championship.
Meanwhile, 47-year-old Stewart Cink (64) was T-4 and moved to No. 2 position in the FedExCup, just four points behind Bryson DeChambeau.
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