Lahiri ends tied 15th at Thai Golf Championships

Chonburi : Anirban Lahiri carded a modest one-under 71 but still ended up as the best-placed Indian at tied 15th after the final round of the Thailand Golf Championships here on Sunday.

Lahiri, seventh overnight, was unable to get going on a day of low scores and managed only a 71 to drop out of top-10. Shiv Kapur had his best showing of the week with a flawless six-under 66 that saw him finish 21st at six-under 282, while Gaganjeet Bhullar paid heavily for two bad holes -- both double bogeys -- with a modest 72 and ended 31st three-under 285. Ajeetesh Sandhu (72) had a rough day with a 76 and finished tied 53rd at three-over 291. Lahiri, who had one bogey courtesy of a spike mark right in the line of the putt on the fifth green and two birdies, said, "I hit the ball fine but I didn`t hole many putts and that`s been the scene all week and for some time. "Still I will take the positives in that I dropped only five shots the whole week with three bogeys and one double. If only a few putts had fallen, but it was a decent week and there is one more next week in Johor." Kapur had a fine round with six birdies and no bogeys. "The putts finally fell today. This season I have often finished very well on the weekends, but I need to get decent starts. Still I am happy and staying patient that my form is coming back slowly," Kapur, who saw his putt on the tough 18th lip out. "That was agonising. I thought it was going in." Bhullar was unfazed by the stretch of four holes from sixth to ninth, where he dropped five shots, including two double bogeys. "Except for those two holes, the seventh and ninth, I played 16 holes quite decently. I had a great birdie-birdie start and finished very strongly with three birdies in last five holes. It was a 72 but it should have been a round in 60s. I have played well and there`s one more to go in Johor and I want to do well there," Bhullar said. Sandhu, who secured his first pro win only last month at home in India, finished with a steady stream of eight pars, but two double bogeys earlier on besides two other bogeys and only two birdies meant a 76 that saw him finish at 55th, down from 40th overnight. Charl Schwartzel seemed to be playing solitaire at the Amata Spring Golf and Country Club as he won the Thailand Golf Championships by a massive 11-shot margin. Schwartzel rounded off the week with his third 65 of the week for a 25-under 263 and had just one bogey the whole week. Schwartzel`s ninth professional win was his first in Asia also ended a 20-month title drought since the 2011 Masters triumph. He won USD 158,500. Daniel Chopra, second overnight, started on a rough note with three bogeys in first four holes and never recovered. He carded 75 and at 10-under 274 he was tied sixth in a bunch that also included home boys Prom Meesawat (67) and Kiradech Aphibarnrat (67), Englishman Simon Dyson (68), Australian Scott Hend (71). Schwartzel`s first win since the Masters in 2011 also set a series of records for the 2012 season on Asian Tour. His 11-shot margin was the biggest this year by six shots over the next best by Mardan Mamat (Philippine Open) and Bernd Wiesberger (Ballantines). PTI