Steady finish by Anirban Lahiri at World Golf Championship

AKRON (OHIO): Anirban Lahiri continued his fine revival over the weekend and finished tied 53rd at the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational, where he fought off back spasm in the opening round.

Lahiri, who had great difficulty in finishing his first round on account of sudden back spasms and barely managed to finish it at seven over 77, fought back magnificently over the next three days.

Lahiri who shot 72-67-71 over the next three days was seven-over for the first day and then even par for the next three, indicating how his hopes for a good finish were dashed by the opening round.

The 28-year-old Irishman Shane Lowry, still not a member of the PGA Tour, played bogey-free 66 on the final day to snatch the biggest win of his career.

Lowry ended at 11-under 269 and two shots clear of Bubba Watson (66), with the overnight leaders, Justin Rose and Jim Furyk with 72 each, sharing third place.

Lahiri, winner of Malaysian Open and Hero Indian Open, had two birdies and three bogeys in the final round for a card of 71. He finished at seven-over 287 and his 53rd place fetched him Euros 43,343.

Lahiri birdied the second and the 18th and bogeyed the fourth, ninth and the 15th, but even more noticeably he missed a few small putts inside 10 feet and many more between 10 and 18 feet.

"My aim was to try and get a couple of good rounds over the weekend and salvage my overall score and better my position. To that extent I managed that, but the way I am playing I should have finished much higher, and the back spasms on first day cost me dearly," Lahiri said.