Shanghai: It was once again a struggle for Anirban Lahiri as he laboured to a two-over 74 and slipped to tied 34th, down from overnight 27th, at the WGC-HSBC Champions golf at the Sheshan International Golf Club.
Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell is leading the field by one after adding a 71 to 67-67 on first two days to get to 11-under 205. Japan's Hiroshi Iwata (73-65-68) was second at 10-under 206 and Martin Kaymer (69-72-66) was third at nine-under 207 alongside Bubba Watson (71-67-69).
Lahiri, who carded 74 and 70 in his first two rounds, is now two-over 218 for three rounds and will need a good solid final round for a good finish.
Playing alongside American Jordan Spieth, one of the rising stars in world golf, and England's Tommy Fleetwood, Lahiri had three birdies, three bogeys and one double bogey.
Lahiri has suffered a double bogey each of the three days. In the second round, he had four birdies and a double bogey and on the first day it was three birdies, three bogeys and a double.
After enjoying a brief resurgence with a second round 70, Lahiri stumbled to another 74 like his opening day. The Indian, a five-time Asian Tour winner, started off promisingly with a birdie on the second hole but his game started to unravel with a bogey on four followed by a double-bogey-five on six.
He dropped another two shots on 11 and 12 but limited the damage with two successive birdies on 13 and 14 before signing for a three-day total of two-over-par 218 under windy and chilly conditions which dipped to a low of 14 degree Celsius in the early morning.
"My game's still there and I don't have to reinvent the wheel. It's just a matter of getting the ball onto the fairway and taking advantage of the opportunities which were far and few today," said Lahiri.
From amongst the Asian players, Japan's Hiroshi Iwata provided the bright sparks by staying in contention with a four-under-par 68 to take second place, trailing Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell by one shot.
China's Wu Ashun also continued to spearhead the home charge by carding a 69 for tied 15th place at the final World Golf Championships event of the year.
But otherwise it was a day where other leading Asian heavyweights such Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee struggled.
Thongchai was also left to rue another day of missed opportunities as he traded five bogeys against two birdies to slip further down to tied-54th place.
"The conditions were quite tough out there today. But it's okay. I'll try again I hope to finish off well tomorrow," said Thongchai.
Current Order of Merit leader David Lipsky of the United States signed for a 72 to take tied-62nd place while Philippines' Antonio Lascuna added a 73 to his previous rounds of 76 and 79 to share 72nd place with South Africa's Jaco Van Zyl.
The WGC-HSBC Champions is one of four World Golf Championships sanctioned and organised by the operational committee of the International Federation of PGA Tours, which includes the Asian Tour, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA TOUR, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour.
The other World Golf Championships include the WGC- Match Play, WGC-Cadillac Championship and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
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