India golfer Anirban Lahiri carded 3-under 69 in the third round to be at tied 16th and four shots behind the leaders at the Valero Texas Open here. Lahiri, who earlier had rounds of 68 and 73, was trying to get back to full flow after being unwell last week.
The 34-year-old, who finished runner-up at The Players Championship three weeks ago, made three birdies on his homeward nine at TPC San Antonio to sit on 6-under 210.
He was at tied 16th, up from overnight tied 27th. Four players — Brandt Snedeker (67), Beau Hossler (67), Dylan Frittelli (70) and J.J. Spaun (69) — shared the third round lead at the tournament with three-day totals of 10-under 206.
Lahiri entered the week hopeful of landing a first win, following a memorable outing at The Players where he finished second to Cameron Smith of Australia.
After trading two birdies against as many bogeys on his front nine, Lahiri produced some wonderful iron play to snare birdies on the 10th, 17th and 18th holes following putts from inside of nine feet.
“It’s nice to get a couple (of birdies) in. I’ve just kind of struggled the last couple of days with my mental energy as I was ill all of last week,” said Lahiri.
While he is four shots back with 18 holes remaining, Lahiri feels he can put in a low number on the last day to potentially challenge the leaders. The winner of Valero Texas Open will earn an exemption into next week’s Masters, which is also on Lahiri’s mind.
“I feel like I’m playing really, really well,” said Lahiri, who finished fifth in the event here last season.