European Masters: Anirban Lahiri fights in tough conditions to stay in the race

Crans Montana, Switzerland: Anirban Lahiri fought back bravely in gale-like conditions over the last stretch to finish with an even par after the penultimate round of the Omega European Masters on Saturday.

At six-under 204 he was tied 11th and six behind clubhouse leader, Mathew Fitzpatrick, who shot a six-under 64 with eight birdies and two bogeys. Some of the other leaders were yet to finish their third round.

Lahiri was disappointed with the round as he had an rough day with five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey for a 70 that saw him hang in for a final charge on Sunday.

Another Indian fighting to stay in the fray was SSP Chawrasia, who had two bogeys on the front stretch and then made up with two birdies on the journey home. He was now four-under 206 and Tied-24th.

Of the other Indians, Jyoti Randhawa (68-70-68) was also tied 24th at four-under 206, Shiv Kapur (68-71-70) was tied 47th. Rashid Khan (67-72-73) was tied 67th.

Lahiri hit an out-of-bounds on 14th and it led to a double on a hole, where he may have been looking for a birdie.

Lahiri said, "It was a tough day as you can make out from the scoring today. It was blowing a gale especially on the back-nine and it was really tough.

"I'm really disappointed. I hit one shot on 14 today, which pretty much cost me three shots. I hit it out of bounds and ended up making a double there. I thought I could at least make a birdie there and that was probably my only regret all day."

He added, "I fought back hard after that with two birdies as my concentration was not really good earlier on. I tried to gather myself from there but overall it was a fighting round of even-par under tough conditions but I'm terribly disappointed."

Jeev Milkha Singh, Rahil Gangjee and Digvijay Singh missed the halfway cut on Friday, while Gaganjeet Bhullar withdrew.

Lahiri, who opened bogey-bogey rallied with birdies on seventh and ninth. A birdie on tenth brought him into red numbers, but a bogey on 12th and a double on par-5 14th pushed him way down. He again fought back with birdies on 15th and 16th and then closed with a pair of pars.

Chawrasia, needing a decent finish this week to seal his European Tour card for 2016, opened with a bogey and added one more on fifth. Birdies on 10th and 14th saw him get back to even keel.

Defending champion David Lipsky was two-under through 16 for the day and 10-under for the tournament and Y.E.Yang, two over through 15 was also 10-under with three to play.