06 November 2021: The back nine proved to be an achilles heel on Thursday, as Anirban Lahiri was impeded during the opening round of the Mayakoba Championship. Despite making a clean start, three bogeys on the home stretch restricted him to a still handy 67. He set that right on Friday with missionary zeal. The Indian started his round on the tenth and marched with rare serenity, making the turn in an even 35 strokes. Matthew Wolff is ahead of the pack at 13-under 129.
Anirban made four birdies over the front nine and used that confidence to go one better in the second round. He blanketed a hattrick of birdies from the 4th with birdies at the first and eighth for an imposing 66. It was enough to push him well inside the top ten, just four back from the leader.
Matthew Wolff was off to a blistering 61 in the opening round. The second was a sedate 68, but enough to secure a two-stroke advantage over Scottie Scheffler. The latter shot 64 on Friday to go 11-under ahead of Carlos Ortiz and Viktor Hovland, both men matching each other with a 65.
Wolff has been impeccable for the most part. Once again, he made birdies on each of the par-5 holes, just as he did in the opening round. Just when it appeared like he may run away with a stronger lead, he found the sand at both the 16th and 18th, conceded bogeys and settled for a 68.
“It was a hard finish, but I was really happy with how I played today,” Wolff said. “Felt like it was pretty difficult this afternoon, honestly. … Following a round like I had yesterday, it’s not always easy to come out and keep on making birdies and glad I proved to myself that I could do it. I put myself in a really good spot, so I’m excited for the week.”
Scheffler’s round caught fire on the way home. He shot five straight birdies through the eighth hole as he surged to the second spot after 36 holes.
“I feel like I’m doing a good job of getting the ball in position and giving myself a lot of looks,” Scheffler said. “I feel like I burned a lot of edges the first couple days. Once those putts start falling a bit more, I think I’ll start scoring a bit better.”
Brooks Koepka battled hard for an even 71. He was seemingly safe until he sailed into the mangroves around the 16th and sank to a triple bogey. He missed the cut.
Rickie Fowler endured a bogey and a double on the par-5 through the front nine. He was in imminent danger of missing the cut till a birdie at the 17th rescued his weekend right on the line.
