Jakarta, Dec 6 (IANS): Indian golfers Anirban Lahiri and S.S.P. Chowrasia finished tied sixth and joint 11th as Ireland's Padraig Harrington held a commanding five-shot lead at the weather-interrupted $750,000 BANK BRI Indonesia Open before the third round was abandoned Saturday.
Lahiri sizzled with a five-under 66 - same as David Lipsky of the United States - to take his total to 206 while Chowrasia carded four-under 67 to share 11th place after getting a total of seven-under 207 as 44 golfers will return Sunday morning to complete the third round at the par-71 Damai Indah Golf, PIK Course here.
The three-time Major winner Harrington was 16-under through 13 holes before play was called off.
Playing in the same group as Harrington, Australia’s Nathan Holman was a distant five shots back while co-overnight leader Thanyakon Khrongpha of Thailand struggled with his driver and was 10-under through 13 holes.
Local hope George Gandranata continued his fine run at the Asian Tour event where he sits on eight-under after playing 16 holes.
Harrington, who is aiming to win his first title since 2012, hopes to stay positive as he prepares for a 23-hole marathon finale on Sunday.
“I was doing nicely. I got a good start and holed a couple of putts at the right time. I didn’t do too many mistakes but it is always difficult when you have the lead. You are a little bit cautious and it is something which I have to deal with," he said.
“The last thing I want to do is go out there and be negative because that gives the rest of the field a chance. It is an awkward position to be in. It is never easy to lead. It is always easy to chase,” said Harrington, who marked his card with four birdies."
Holman struggled to repeat his second round heroics where he posted a brilliant 63. The Australian needs a huge result this week to have a chance of retaining his Asian Tour card for the 2015 season.
“I didn’t have real momentum going. The suspension didn’t really affect anything. Obviously you can learn quite a bit from Padraig Harrington and it has been really nice playing with him. Hope to get a good night’s sleep and see what happens tomorrow,” said Holman, ranked 95th on the Merit list.
Other Indians in the fray, Chiragh Kumar was tied 28th with an overall score of 211 (71, 70, 70) while Arjun Atwal shared 35th position with a total of 213.
While Jyoti Randhawa and Subhankar Das didn't complete the round, Rahil Gangjee, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Himmat Rai failed to make the cut, which fell at one-over 143.