Internet Desk: Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri shot a fantastic five-under 65 in the opening round to grab a share of the second spot, just one stroke behind leader Bryce Molder in the Dean & Deluca Invitational at the Colonial.
Lahiri holed a lot of putts and made good use of conditions despite play being halted for an hour and a half because of threat of lightning after he had played just three holes.
Lahiri, one of the early starters from the tenth tee, is sharing the second spot with Patrick Reed and Webb Simpson.
Lahiri had seven birdies and two bogeys. Starting on the 10th, he birdied 11th from nine feet, the 14th from 20 feet and the 18th from six feet. But he also three-putted from 26 feet on 15th and from 22 feet on 17th, which included a four-footer miss for par.
On the second nine, the front side of the course, Lahiri missed a four-footer for birdie on first, but then putted well. His steady play saw him navigate the stretch between third and fifth holes, called the “Horrible Horseshoe” with three straight pars. It was his fine iron play on the last few holes that stood out and served him well, hitting it close.
On his Thursday round, he added,”Oh, I love it. It reminds me of my favorite track back in India, the Delhi Golf Club (where he has won four of his seven professional international titles). It’s all about navigation. You don’t have to go bombs away on every tee, and I really like that.
You have to think your way around the golf course and play to your strengths, and yeah, I enjoy playing tracks like this.”
He admitted,”I think I hit it pretty good all day. There was a couple of stutters in the middle. I did three-putt a couple of times from inside 25 feet. That was not fun, but I think I got my focus back straight after that miss on 1 and finished strong, yeah.
Meanwhile, Indian golfers SSP Chawrasia and Jeev Milkha Singh got off to a steady start by carding identical one-under 71s to be tied 33rd after the first round of the BMW PGA Championship here.
Chawrasia had three birdies against one bogey, while Jeev struck an eagle, a birdie and two bogeys, one of them on his first hole.
Danny Willett, in his first appearance on home soil since his victory at Augusta National, lived up to his top billing with a sparkling six-under 66 in the first round.
The 28-year-old Englishman, the highest ranked player in the field, was the only player not to drop a shot at Wentworth Club and sits one stroke behind the trio of Australian Scott Hend, Dutchman Joost Luiten and Korean YE Yang.
Australian Scott Hend and Y E Yang of Korea fired matching seven-under 65s to share the opening round lead as Asian tour players had a great start. The duo shared the lead with Dutchman Joost Luiten.