Anirban Lahiri lying T19 at Colonial

May 25, 2018: Anirban Lahiri made a rousing start in the Fort Worth Invitational, getting off the blocks with a brilliant 31 on the front nine at the Colonial Country Club. Eventually, Anirban made three under 67 to end the day in a tie for 19th place. Shubhankar Sharma, back in action after a three week rest, got off to a difficult start. The 21 year old posted a 73, leaving himself an arduous task on Friday to survive the cut.

Kevin Na shot eight under 62 to take charge of the leaderboard. Charley Hoffman is lying in second with a 63 and four other golfers are bunched at the top of the packed leaderboard.

Anirban took wings with a hattrick of birdies, set up with strokes that helped him within five feet of the flag on each occasion. The 30 year old went four under with a brilliant putt from 32 feet on the ninth green.

Fortunes reversed a bit on the back nine though, as Anirban sought to impose himself on the course, Anirban found the rough on the 12th hole before missing a tough 12 footer to save par.

Anirban paid a penalty for missing a short putt on the 14th to concede another shot, falling back to two under. The round came full circle with a fine birdie at the 18th, helping the Indian into the top 20 at the end of the first round.

Shubhankar made a steady start before the water at the 15th swallowed his ball and rhythm. The 74th ranked Indian broke a spell of five pars with a triple bogey at 15. He slipped to four over when the bunker at the 17th took a pair of shots.

The young Indian did exceptionally well to recover from there – a birdie at the 18th helping him restore confidence and stem the tide. Shubhankar will need to focus on the good side of his round, and draw on his skills to work his way back into the weekend.

Shubhankar played his second nine with great poise, making nine straight pars to end the day with a. 73. He will need a good round on Friday to make the cut.

The PGA TOUR is predicting a 78% probability of the cut falling at even par, meaning that Shubhankar will need a 67 or better to play his way back into the final two rounds.