August 25, 2018: After a dramatic second day at the Ridgewood Country Club, Anirban Lahiri spent anxious hours inside the clubhouse before making the weekend on the number. Tiger Woods and Byeong Hun An were also among those that made the weekend at even par 142.
Overnight leader Vaughn Taylor suffered a precipitous fall, sliding out with a 78 in the second round. Jamie Lovemark was the lone survivor from the four men pack that was in front at the end of the first round. He was joined by Brooks Koepka at 10-under, scoring 66 and 65 respectively.
Adam Scott shot the low round of the day, firing a 64 to climb 24 spots to third place. The Aussie is just one stroke adrift of Lovemark and Koepka.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson repeated a 67 to enter the weekend at T4. Keeping him company at eight under was Bryson DeChambeau, who made 66 on Friday.
First-round leaders Sean O’Hair and Kevin Tway moved to 7-under with matching 69s. They are in T6 with Tommy Fleetwood (67-68), Ryan Palmer (68-67) and Jhonattan Vegas (67-68).
Anirban made a sedate start on Friday, scoring pars at the first three holes. He made his move with a pair of birdies at four and five, but the course drew one back with a bogey at the sixth hole. While Anirban made a twenty footer at the fourth, he missed from eleven feet on the sixth, settling for bogey.
At the par-4 7th hole, Anirban reached the deck with a fine approach that left him less than ten feet for a birdie. He took that opportunity to go back to two under par.
The rough at the ninth compromised his second stroke and a bogey ensued. Anirban played with determination and discipline to coast through the back nine without any damage. But after playing eight clean holes, he conceded the third bogey at the final hole to slip back to even par.
With only the top 100 making the Dell Technologies Championship, eleven golfers saw their season end prematurely. Richy Werenski, John Huh, Tyler Duncan, William McGirt, J.T. Poston, Vaughn Taylor, Grayson Murray, Ryan Blaum, Scott Brown, Nick Taylor and Harris English will play no further part in the FedExCup Playoffs.
Anirban is currently lying at a projected 98 on the FedExCup standings but now has an opportunity to climb up the order with a good weekend.
Leaders
Jamie Lovemark 66-66 – 132 (-10)
Brooks Koepka 67-65 – 132 (-10)
Adam Scott 69-64 – 133 (-9)
Dustin Johnson 67-67 – 134 (-8)
Bryson DeChambeau 68-66 – 134 (-8)
Leading Asian scores
Whee Kim 72-68 – 140 (-2)
Hideki Matsuyama 67-73 – 140 (-2)
Anirban Lahiri 71-71 – 142 (E)
