Chonburi (Thailand), Dec 12 (IANS): India's Anirban Lahiri battled to a second round one-over-par 73 to gain some momentum in the Order of Merit race and stay in contention at the $1 million Thailand Golf Championship here Friday.

The five-time Asian Tour winner kept a cool head on a tough scoring day and was rewarded with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole. His two-day total of even-par 144 was four shots back of the leader Tommy Fleetwood of England.

“It is not easy because the smallest of mistakes get magnified. If you miss the fairway then it is over. You can’t hit it more than 40 yards when you find the rough. You have to take your opportunities and try to do damage control,” said Lahiri, who is tied for ninth place.

The windy conditions and thick rough made life difficult for the players at the Amata Spring Country Club where only eight players finished in red numbers.

“It was tough out there. I didn’t hit it very well. I was wayward off the tees and hacked out quite a few times. I’m happy with my score, it could have been a lot worst. It feels like I’m playing on a brand new golf course.

"We’ve been playing here for so many years and every year we have someone shooting a 65 or a 66 every day. Right now, if you shoot a 70, it feels like you shot a 59! It is really hard especially in the afternoon,” said Lahiri.

Current Order of Merit leader David Lipsky of the US, who leads by $133,518 over Lahiri in the race to become Asia’s number one, struggled to a 74 to sit in tied 14th place on 145.

“I really underperformed. The course was tough and I wasn’t playing well. With those two combined, I obviously didn’t post a good number. I need to regroup and find more fairways and greens during the weekend,” said Lipsky.