June 23, 2018: The battle for consistency has been at the heart of the narrative as Anirban Lahiri sought to become an imposing presence on the PGA TOUR. Finally, though, Anirban seems to have found the key to his constant nemesis, if the first two rounds in the Travelers Championship are any sign. The Indian played well for a second day running, inching up the order with a second straight 67.
Bubba Watson threw his hat in the ring with a brilliant 63, but it was Brian Harman who rode his 66 to gain a one-stroke advantage at the halfway stage.
“I had some mental mistakes yesterday, and then I didn’t make some putts,” said Watson. “Today I started out hotter. I made a good shot on 11, our second hole, made the putt, making a solid par putt on 12, and then that freed me up a little bit. Gave me some confidence going into the next hole where I made the eagle.”
Russell Henley fired a handy 65 to join Matt Jones and Zach Johnson just one stroke off the pace. Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey and Beau Hossler are at 8-under 132, two strokes off the leader. Behind them are Watson, Rory McIlroy and Lanto Griffin, who emulated Watson with a 63 in the second round.
“The putter has been really good so far, but I’ve been in position a lot,” Harman said. “I’ve had a lot of good looks at it. I’m just able to put a little pressure on the course right now, which is nice.”
Anirban is among a group of five golfers at 6-under, ready to pounce from just outside the top ten. Jason Day, David Lingmerth, Ryan Blaum and J.B. Holmes are keeping the Indian company through 36 holes.
The 112th ranked Lahiri made a forceful start to his round, making his first birdie from 18 feet on the 4th hole. He followed that with another from inside ten feet to move to five under.
Anirban found the going rough on the par-4 7th hole, taking a drop before finally managing to get through with a bogey to his name. After making five straight pars, Anirban made a third birdie at the 13th hole and added another at the 16th to move up the order.
PGA TOUR Notes
- Brian Harman was two strokes back and T2 after 36 holes at the 2015 Travelers Championship. Finished third.
- With a win Sunday, Matt Jones (T2) would become the third Australian to win the Travelers Championship (Greg Norman/ 1995 and Marc Leishman/2012).
- With back-to-back 4-under 66s (T5), Bryson DeChambeau is looking for his second TOUR win in three starts (the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide).
- First-round co-leader Zach Johnson birded his final hole to shoot 2-under 68 and is one back at 9-under 131.
- For the second straight day, defending champion Jordan Spieth eagled the par-5 sixth hole. Posted a 3-over 73.
- Brooks Koepka followed a 2-under 68 in round one with a 69 Friday and is seven strokes back headed into the weekend.
- With his 7-under 63 in round two, 2010 and 2015 Travelers Championship winner Bubba Watson moves from T77 to T8.
