Anirban Lahiri showed up at the TPC Sawgrass in darkness Sunday morning wearing four layers of clothes — with a fifth layer just in case — to cope with near freezing temperatures he never experienced growing up in Bangalore, India. He walked off the course in evening darkness with a one-shot lead in The Players Championship and still a long way to go for a career-changing victory. For him and everyone else still playing, this week is unlike any other. Leaderboard when play was suspended due to darkness: 1. @AnirbanGolf -9 T2. @HogeGolf -8 T2. @HV3_Golf T4. @JSMunozGolf -7 T4. @Paul_Casey T4. @SamBurns66 T7. @F_Molinari -6 T7. @DanielBerger59 T7. Cameron Smith T7. @DougGhim T11. Seven players tied -5 — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 14, 2022 Lahiri takes a slender one-shot lead over American pair Harald Varner III and Tom Hoge on 9-under through 11 holes of his third round which was suspended at 7.32pm on Sunday (local time) because of darkness following multiple weather disruptions since Thursday. Chasing a maiden victory in what is the PGA Tour’s flagship US$20 million tournament, the 34-year-old will resume his round on Monday 8am (8pm Hong Kong time), with the final round scheduled soon after. Lahiri will be chasing to become only the second Indian golfer after Arjun Atwal to win on the PGA Tour (2010 Wyndham Championship) and the third Asian golfer after Korea’s K.J. Choi (2011) and Si Woo Kim (2017) to win this tournament. “Yeah, who doesn’t want to win The Players Championship?” Lahiri said. “You just don’t know. You grind away, you keep chipping away, you keep working on your game, and when it clicks, it clicks. It could be this week, it could be next week. As long as it happens, and that’s the belief you’ve got to have, and that’s the commitment you’ve got to have. “I’m just happy that I’m playing well. I’m just happy that I’m hitting my irons well. When you are in that state of mind, you usually play well, and that’s what’s happening.” Lahiri has multiple wins in Asia, including two DP World Tour titles in 2015. A two-time International Team player at the Presidents Cup, he has played full time on the PGA Tour since 2016 where he has a career-best finish of tied second at the 2017 Memorial Tournament and 12 other top-10s through 153 starts. 'I can compete with the best': India’s Anirban Lahiri does Asia proud with fifth-place finish at PGA Championship But he has struggled with his form in recent times, with his last top-10 being the Barbasol Championship in July 2021 while this season, he has missed seven cuts from 12 starts. In five appearances at The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, he has four missed cuts and finished in a tie for 74th in 2019. However, he is upbeat of the prospects ahead on Monday. “It’s been great,” he said. “Obviously it’s been nice to catch the good side of the draw to start. I think to be honest, going to bed last night I was a bit scared how cold it was going to be [on Sunday]. I’m not used to playing temperatures sub-40F, and I did struggle a little bit when I came out [to resume his second round], but it was nice to just get back into a good process and a good rhythm. Made a lot of good swings today, just kept it in front of me.” Drinks on me, unbelievable feeling @THEPLAYERSChamp ☘️🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/llbbJeF0Uu — Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) March 14, 2022 With so much golf left, the possibilities for who wins and who does not are endless. The 16 players within four shots of the lead included the resurgent former Open champion Francesco Molinari and his successor holding the claret jug, Shane Lowry, whose round was highlighted by an ace to a front pin on the 17th. Lowry had himself a day on one of the most famous holes in golf. He played twice and needed only three shots, having made a 25-foot birdie in the second round earlier in the morning. “Not only that, it put me back in the tournament somewhat,” said Lowry, who was four shots behind and had four holes left in the third round. “So it was amazing.” Doug Ghim, at 6-under par, was holding his own despite getting the short end. He was the only player among the top 15 after 36 holes who had the late-early start times and faced the worst of the fickle weather, mainly the 35 mph wind on Saturday. “Obviously, there’s been a lot of talk of the waves. And yeah, there’s a big difference,” Varner said. “But that’s not my problem. I didn’t make the tee times.”
