Anirban Lahiri sinks hole in one in third round

Anirban Lahiri continued his dream debut with a stunning hole-in-one on the ninth hole in the third round of 141st Open Championships at the Royal Lytham and St Annes in England on Saturday.

Having begun the day at even par for 36 holes, first-timer Lahiri bogeyed the third and fourth but then steadied the ship to par the next four holes.

Then on the ninth hole, where he had a par on the first day and a bogey on the second, he landed an ace. He used a 9-iron off the tee on the 150-yard hole.

Lahiri, who had said yesterday that his goal was to get into red figures for the tournament, birdied the eighth and then aced the ninth to move from two-over to one-under and tied 16th. He still has five more holes to play.

It was the first ace of the ongoing championships, though the current leader Brandt Snedeker had aced the par-4 336-yard 16th in a practice round on Wednesday.

He had taken a second shot off the tee after the first landed in the fairway. Interestingly Snedeker has never made the cut before at the Open.

In the 2011 Open, Dustin Johnson and veteran Tom Watson had aces at the Royal St. Georges.

Paul McGinley had a similar ace at the 1996 Open at Royal Lytham in the second round.