The Open: Anirban Lahiri misses cut

Anirban Lahiri’s Open Championship dreams went up in smoke after a second straight 75 sank him to six over 150. Lahiri, who contemplated pulling out due to a lingering viral fever, left himself a mountain to climb when he took 38 shots to navigate the front nine, leaving himself barely any chance to recover and survive the cut. The cut was projected to fall at three over 147 as The Open Championships reached a decisive phase on Friday.

India’s best golfer needed to produce a below par round to remain relevant for the weekend, but bogeys at the 3^rd and the 5^th pushed him off course very early in the second round. A birdie at the par-4 seventh may have lifted his spirits, but despair was round the corner.

Lahiri, who made birdie at the ninth on Thursday, needed five to get past it this time around. The double bogey meant that he was already six over mid-way through his second round. The 27 year old started to play much better on the inward nine, but his best efforts were only enough to stay even.

The 86^th ranked golfer produced six straight pars to steady himself, but he was running out of time to rescue himself from the hanging sword. After a bogey at the 16^th, Anirban finished on a positive note with a birdie at the final hole.

But it was just not enough to help Lahiri recreate the wonderful memories of his major debut, two years ago. Lahiri though would like to draw on this experience and learn from the two rounds of links golf as he continues to work his way up the golfing ladder.

The Asian Tour Order of Merit leader has struggled this week – making just 16 of 28 fairways, leaving himself a recovery job at nearly every second hole. Lahiri could not fare too much better with the greens – making just 53% compared with an overall average hovering near the 60% mark.

“I would have pulled out if this was a normal tour event,” said a dejected Lahiri, struggling to deal with the physical fallout of his illness. “I’m feeling terrible. Bad fever and body ache all day. I was contemplating whether to play or not. I didn’t want to pull out as I wanted to walk down the 18th and see the Indian flag once more. It was hard, it was very hard. I thought about pulling out for a long time but my manager and the family that I’m staying with had a chat with me and I’m glad that I played.”

Report Anand Datla

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