Difficult start for Anirban Lahiri

Report by Anand Datla

March 06, 2015: Anirban Lahiri was offered a thorny welcome to the PGA Tour, returning him an 80 in the first round of the WGC Cadillac Championship. The Trump National Doral course was tough on most golfers, but especially so for the Indian who finished the first day in 71st place at 8-over. JB Holmes produced a stunning bogey free 62 to take control of the leader board. Rory McIlroy was four over midway through his round, but recovered to post a 73 and offer himself some hope after missing the cut last week.

Starting on the back nine, Lahiri got off to a decent start. He was one under after four holes with the first of his two birdies coming at the 12th hole. The Indian was placed reasonably well at the turn, when he was one over through nine holes. But after making another birdie at the first hole, Lahiri started bleeding and did so profusely.

Between the second through the ninth, Lahiri managed to stay even only at the fourth and fifth holes. He made double bogeys at the third and ninth holes and four other bogeys to get through his second nine in 43 holes. One of the big challenges facing Lahiri was making the greens – his greens in regulation number was 39% which was way below the course average of 61%.

If it was any consolation, Lahiri could look at Jordan Spieth’s card and keep hoping for a better outing on Friday. The young American signed on 75 to languish outside the top 50 after the first round.

At one over were McIlroy, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia and Graeme McDowell among a group of dozen golfers. McIlroy was four over when he made the turn at the 18th hole, having just suffered a double bogey.

With the memory of the missed cut still fresh on many minds, the Northern Irishman was staring at more misery. To his credit, McIlroy recovered well, making three birdies and an eagle at the 8th to keep himself afloat for another day’s battle against the demanding course.

The show of the day though was Holmes, who has a four shot lead over Ryan Moore. The American was completely at home around the treacherous course, making four birdies on either side of his march around the course. Holmes buttressed his card with a nice eagle at the par-5 12th hole to complete an astonishing 62.