Hoylake, July 17: Under near perfect conditions for golf, Anirban Lahiri failed to summon his best golf as he slipped to a disappointing three-over-par 75 at The Open Championship on Thursday. The best ranked golfer in India was erratic off the tee and struggled for much of the round dealing with rough and tumble of links golf. Lahiri needs a spectacular recovery in the second round to avoid missing the cut.
Anirban’s averages were significantly lower than the field as he got off to a disappointing start. The Indian was making only 50% of the fairways, making only 11 of 18 greens as he found himself in a grim battle under relatively benign conditions.
The 27 year old was in decent shape when he made three straight pars to begin his second visit to The Open Championships, but trouble was never too far from there. Lahiri made bogey at the par four fourth hole, but snatched it back immediately with a birdie at the fifth hole.
But misery befell the Indian, when he made six at the par-4 seventh and deepened the crisis by giving away another shot at the next hole. Anirban did well to regain his composure to make back to back birdies at the turn – 9th & 10th.
Lahiri slipped to three over for the round, when he made bogeys at the 15th and 17th holes to sign off with a 75 for his first round. His patchy start left the Indian on the brink of missing the cut, lying in T112 and in desperate need for a solid round on Friday.
Report by Anand Datla
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