One-Stroke Penalty Sparks Anirban Lahiri Downfall As LIV Peer Seals Major Spots Instead
The Crushers GC player was co-leading the Asian Tour's Hong Kong Open after three rounds, only to be penalized one stroke and later struggle on Sunday
It was a tale of two LIV golfers at the Asian Tour's Hong Kong Open this weekend as Anirban Lahiri suffered a key one-stroke penalty while John Catlin wrapped up a dominant victory.
Lahiri was among the co-leaders through three rounds at Hong Kong Golf Club thanks to scores of 62-68-67 and was all set to take his shot at landing two Major spots on Sunday.
However, first reported by golf writer Joy Chakravarty, the Crushers GC player was deemed to have inadvertently moved his ball prior to a chip on the 18th hole in round three.
Lahiri was penalized for the incident and therefore teed off slightly earlier than he'd originally planned - one stroke behind the leaders.
The Indian pro's Sunday was then an extension of his nightmare end to round three, with a double-bogey six on the first hole setting the tone for what was still to come.
While others made countless birdies around him, Lahiri managed only one at the par-3 fifth. That arrived just before three bogeys in four holes around the turn which summed up his attempted title charge.
In the end, Bryson DeChambeau's teammate finished T17th on nine-under and was left to wonder what might have been.
On the contrary, there were no such problems for LIV Golf reserve Catlin who sealed places at The Masters and The Open Championship via his impressive five-shot success.
With Caleb Surratt and Thomas Pieters for company at the start of the day, Catlin made a patient start via three consecutive pars before sandwiching a bogey with two birdies prior to the turn.
It was on the much more scoreable back-nine that the 16-time pro winner really found his rhythm though with four gains between holes 10 and 14.
Despite continued pressure from Hong Kong's Matthew Cheung, Catlin found one last birdie at the 17th to seal his sixth national open title.
Speaking to the Asian Tour after his win, the Californian said: "Hard to put it hard to put it into words.
"It was an event that I felt like I could do well at that I hadn’t really done well in the previous years, so to come out and play some really, really solid golf and get the job done is very, very special.
"Anytime you can be on a trophy with some of the greatest players to ever play the game, I just feel very humbled and very grateful.”
Having added to his wins at the Austrian, English, Irish, Saudi and Thailand Open Championships, Catlin attempted to explain why these events mean so much to him.
He said: "Any time you can win a national open, I think it just adds a little bit of extra prestige. You look at the guys that have won this tournament in years past. I think that also kind of speaks to it as well.
"I mean, anytime you can win a national open is incredible, it’s amazing for this to be my sixth. If you’d told me that 10 years ago, I probably would have laughed at you. So, it’s truly special."
Catlin will make his Masters debut next April before hoping to better his high finish of T16th at The Open in July.
