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San Antonio, April 4 (IANS) India's Anirban Lahiri fired a second successive 3-under 69 in the penultimate round to move up three spots to fifth place for an aggregate 7-under 209, at the Valero Texas Open on Saturday.
"I'm really happy with the way I played. I think this is the most solid I've played tee to green in a while," said 33-year-old Lahiri who now has a realistic chance of going for the title on the final day.
"I felt really calm and, you know, I kind of knew what I was doing and it's really nice. I do feel like I left quite a few shots out there. I hit it really good. So yeah, I think I would have liked to be maybe two, three shots better, but still got a look at it tomorrow. If I can go out and do the same things I did today, maybe make a couple more, it would be nice to get in the hunt," said Lahiri, adding that he is planning a less complicated approach this season by simplifying his golf swing and uncluttering his thoughts in his quest for a PGA Tour win.
Former world No. 1 American golfer Jordan Spieth, and British player Matt Wallace are in the lead on 12-under following identical 67s. American Charley Hoffman, who won the title here five years back, is two behind in third place.
A refreshed Lahiri, who had taken a week's break prior to the tournament, showed a marked improvement with his ball striking and should have been a couple of shots closer to the lead had he not missed several putts from close. Still, he was happy with the way he had performed over the last three days, striking four birdies on the fourth, 11th, 14th and 17th holes and a single bogey in the third round.
"I'm really happy with the way I played. I think this is the most solid I've played tee to green in a while. I felt really calm and I kind of knew what I was doing and it's really nice. I do feel like I left quite a few shots out there. I hit it really good. So yeah, I think I would have liked to be maybe two, three shots better, but still got a look at it tomorrow. If I can go out and do the same things I did today, maybe make a couple more, it would be nice to get in the hunt," added Lahiri.
Speaking about working on his swing with long-time coach Vijay Divecha, Lahiri said, "We've been doing a lot of work and just trying to simplify things. I think I was making things more complicated than they need to be and I think that's been the key this week. A golf course like this is really good if you can have good strategies and that's really helped me."
Lahiri, who made his PGA debut in 2016, has a career-best finish of T2 at the Memorial Tournament in 2017 but this year he has missed five cuts in seven starts.
--IANS
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