Golf: Anirban Lahiri lifts Venetian Macau Open title

Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri notched up his second title of the year, lifting the Venetian Macau Open with a sparkling final round of the five-under 66 on Sunday. 

Starting the day two behind and going as much as four behind at one stage, Lahiri played brilliant golf and his superb weekend combination of 67-66 saw him land his fifth career win on the Asian Tour. He dropped just one bogey in the last two rounds. 

The 27-year-old Indian showed remarkable fighting qualities and held his nerve when it mattered most as he shot a final round of five-under 66 to finish at 17-under 267 and edge out the in-form and overnight leader Scott Hend of Australia (69) and Thai Prom Meesawat (66) by one stroke. 

Lahiri, whose goal this year is to get into the top 50 of world rankings, had started the week on 90th spot and could now move up to 72nd. 

Lahiri dropped just one bogey in his last 44 holes. He had six birdies, four on the front nine and two on the back nine and his only blemish was the bogey on seventh.

His previous bogey came on the first hole, after he started from the tenth on the second day. 

A proof of his consistency was that he had two flawless rounds -- 61 on first day and 67 on third -- and he wavered only on the second when he dropped five bogeys in his 73. 

"It's really special. Hendy was playing great golf and it was sad to see him missing that putt on the last. I knew he was playing some good golf and I told myself that I was going to keep coming back, keep coming back and keep attacking.

"I wanted to make him think I was not going to go away. I think I played really well," Lahiri said after the win. 

The winner's cheque of USD 162,000 raised his season's tally to USD 504,689 as he consolidated his second place on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit and narrowed the gap on leader David Lipsky of the United States. 

Among other Indians, Shiv Kapur (67) was eighth at 10-under 274, while Jyoti Randhawa (70) was tied 15th at six-under 278. Jeev Milkha Singh (68) was tied 26th at three-under 285 and SSP Chowrasia (70) was tied 32nd at two-under 286. 

Image: Anirban Lahiri of India hits his tee shot

Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images