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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Anirban Lahiri had a lot of downtime Friday and Saturday as the weather suspended The Players Championship.
Lahiri, 34 and a native of India, spent it watching a cricket test match as he waited out the weather delays.
On Monday, Lahiri has a chance to win his first career PGA Tour tournament in its flagship event at TPC Sawgrass.
Lahiri, who is 322nd in the world rankings, is 9-under par through 11 holes of his third round entering Monday’s completion of play.
Right behind him are Tom Hoge and Harold Varner, both of whom are 8-under and through nine holes of their respective third rounds.
Sebastian Munoz, who was 6-under through 14 holes of his third round, is at 7-under, as are Paul Casey and Sam Burns, both of whom are nine holes into their third rounds.
The third round will resume Monday morning and finish sometime in the late morning at which time the final round will begin. The tournament is scheduled to finish in the early evening Monday.
The weather on Monday is forecast to be better than it has all tournament, which is good news to Lahiri, who said he went to bed on Saturday night “a bit scared’’ of the impending cold weather for Sunday with temperatures in the 30s when the players began play in the morning.
“I’m not used to playing temperatures sub-40, and I did struggle a little bit when I came out,’’ he said. “I think the coldest I’ve ever been in my life was probably the 2013 Ballantine’s Championship in Jeju, Korea. I was borderline hypothermic the whole day. I was so happy I missed the cut.’’
Lahiri said he began the day Sunday wearing four layers “and I was carrying a fifth in case I needed it.’’
Golf is a funny game. Lahiri shot 76-82 and missed the cut at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Now he’s leading The Players, having shot 5-under through 11 holes of his third round.
“I’m just happy that I’m playing well,’’ he said. “I’m just happy that I’m hitting my irons well. I’m just happy. When you are in that state of mind, you usually play well, and that’s what’s happening.’’
He understands the gravity of what could take place should he have a special day Monday and not only win for the first time but win one of the biggest events in the sport.
“It’s the nature of what we do,’’ he said. “It’s unpredictable. 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.
“Obviously [a win] definitely would be a career highlight,’’ Lahiri went on. “That goes without saying. This is the next thing to winning a major I would say. Who doesn’t want to win The Players Championship?’’
Lahiri played in what he called “all-international pairing’’ with Joaquin Niemann (from Chile) and Cam Smith (Australia) “who have won a lot and played very well, and I’d love to join that club.’’
The highlight of the afternoon was Irishman Shane Lowry acing the par-3 island-green 17th with a pitching wedge from 123 yards.
Lowry, playing alongside Ian Poulter, immediately mimicked Poulter’s patented Ryder Cup celebration, then chest-bumped Poulter and high-fived fans along the ropes on the entire walk to the green.
When he retrieved the ball from the cup, Lowry, the 2019 British Open champion, hurled the ball into the crowd with spectators standing along the hill tripping over each other trying to catch it. The man who emerged with the ball, got Lowry’s attention at the ropes and got him to sign it before he walked to the 18th tee.
The ace got Lowry from 2-under to 4-under for the tournament. It was the first hole-in-one at the TPC Sawgrass 17th since Ryan Moore did it in his opening round in 2019. It was the 1,075th shot since that Moore ace.
For Lowry, it was his second hole-in-one on the PGA Tour. The other one took place on the 16th at Augusta National in the 2016 Masters.
“You play this game, just special things happen sometimes,’’ Lowry said. “It’s pretty cool to do it there, one of the most iconic holes in golf. What can I say? It was a special thing to happen, and I’m looking forward to turning on my phone and seeing the messages I’ve got. Not only that, it put me back in the tournament somewhat, so it was amazing.’’
Lowry, who’s 4-under and five shots out of the lead, played 17 twice on Sunday, completing his second round, and birdied it the first time.
“I played the 17th hole twice and did it in three shots, so it doesn’t owe me anything,’’ he joked. “I’m excited for [Monday] now. If it’s a long day, I can do something hopefully in the morning and finish it off in the afternoon. Hopefully [Monday] night [I’m] celebrating something else.’’
A win, of course.
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