Anirban Lahiri Shoots Even for Third Day In-a-Row, Jeev Milkha Singh Tied 37th in BMW PGA Championships

Jeev Milkha Singh landed an eagle on the 18th to finish two-under 70 and move up to tied 37th, even as Anirban Lahiri found a birdie on the last for his third successive 72 in the third round of the BMW PGA Championships here on Saturday.

Jeev traded two birdies with two bogeys on front nine and was then even par two each more of birdies and bogeys by the 15th. Then came the eagle on 18th for his 70.

Lahiri had three birdies between third and sixth but also had two bogeys in that stretch. His back to back bogeys on 12th and 13th set him back further, before a consolation birdie on 18th gave him something to look forward to.

He was tied 50th.

Meanwhile, Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee moved into contention at the top as he had two birdies and an eagle in first four holes. He had moved to 12-under with 13 more holes to go and was one clear of An Byeong Hun, who was 11-under through four holes in third round.

Overnight leader Francesco Molinari was also at 11-under, while veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez holed his third ace of the season on the par-3 second and got into contention. He was three under for the day after six holes and was overall nine-under in tied fourth.

Tommy Fleetwood landed an albatross on par-5 fourth and he was five-under through 10 holes for the day and was tied with Jimenez at nine-under.

Late on Friday, Lahiri and Jeev came through a testing second round to make the halfway cut at the BMW PGA Championship.

Both Indians added a second identical even par 72 to complete their first 36 holes in 144 and were tied at 52nd. It was a drop of 14 places for both, but they now have the weekend to make up.

The other two Indians, Shiv Kapur (70-77) and SSP Chowrasia (73-75) exited early as the cut fell at one-over, while they were three-over and four-over, respectively.

World No. 1 Rory McIlroy (71-78) also missed the cut. Earlier, Padraig Harrington pulled out due to shoulder problems.

Lahiri, playing in Europe after a two-month stint in US, said, "Yes quite a topsy-turvy round. I had a bad start (bogeys on first two hole) and some poor putting had me in trouble. But it was nice to make a few birdies towards the end though."

He however, added, "Yet, it was disappointing to finish with a bogey thanks to a bad break off the tee. I (still) have a good opportunity to make up some ground over the weekend."

Francesco Molinari birdied the final two holes for the second day running to maintain his position at the top of the leaderboard. With a three under par round of 69, he was 10-under 134 for two days. He was ahead of Korea's Byeong Hun An, whose 64 late in the day reduced the Italian's lead to one shot. An shot 71 on first day.

The best Asian was Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand (70-66) at eight-under 136.