Albany (The Bahamas), Dec 7 (IANS) India’s leading golfer Anirban Lahiri scored even-par 72 to finish tied 17th with a four-day total of four-under 284 in his debut at the $3.5 million Hero World Challenge at the Albany Golf Course here.
The 28-year-old on Sunday scored two birdies on the second and 15th holes against two consecutive bogeys on the eighth and ninth. With this performance, the Bengaluru golfer has dropped three places to 42nd in the world rankings.
“It was a very disappointing week. It becomes all the more disappointing because the course was gettable. Frankly I played a good first 27 holes at which staged I was seven-under and somewhere after that I lost focus,” Lahiri said in a release.
However, he admitted having enjoyed being in the Bahamas and in a field of such elite stars.
“That’s what we play golf for, to play against the best and it was a great week. It was an amazing experience. Hero put up such a great show and were world class. It’s just that on the course my ‘A’ game wasn’t there,” he said.
The US Bubba Watson, two clear at the start of the final day, coasted to a three-shot win over the 18-man field. Adding an six-under 66 to the 63 he had on Saturday, he sprinted ahead with a 72-hole total of 25-under 263 to win his second title of the year. Patrick Reed was flawless with 66, but stayed behind Watson who had seven birdies and one bogey.
World No.4 Watson said, “The key for me was about staying focused, staying committed to my shots. Even though I’m struggling a little bit, I was still in it. Even when I missed the fairways or missed the greens, I was still focused on what I had to do to not make a triple bogey or a double bogey. I tried to play safe as I could after I got in trouble and so that’s what I did. And I made the putts.”
Rickie Fowler was nine-under through 15 holes and ended with a 64, finishing third. But the man for the day was Justin Rose who finally found his touch on his ‘home course’ and had five birdies on either side to total 62. Rose finished only tied 13th at 13-under.