St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, 17-07-2015
Lahiri well-placed for record finish at British Open courtesy bogey-free 70
Anirban Lahiri continued his rich vein of form at the British Open as he followed up his brilliant opening round three-under-69 with a solid two-under-70 in round two on Friday. Lahiri’s two-day total of five-under-139 means he is likely to be in the top-20 at the conclusion of round two which is currently underway.
Heavy rain soon after the first tee off in the morning led to a delay of three hours and 14 minutes at the Old Course. Danny Willett of England led the field at nine-under-135 halfway through the day with the likes of overnight leader Dustin Johnson yet to start.
Anirban began his round with a birdie on the first for the second day in succession. He added another birdie on the 14th. The two-time European Tour champion put up a tenacious display on Friday as he made 16 pars and didn’t drop a single stroke. Lahiri signed a card of 70 to emerge as a contender ahead of the weekend rounds.
“We’ve never had an Indian or Asian winner at The Open and it would be nice if I can get into contention on Sunday.
“It was frustrating because I hit many good shots but was just not making the putts. But I was conscious not to be too hard on myself as it’s so easy to tell yourself you are not going to get too many opportunities and you got to make a lot of them count.
“I was very patient and that was the key for me today,” said Lahiri
In comparison to day one, the 28-year-old Bangalorean had fewer greens in regulation on Friday but at the same time he needed fewer putts (29). His average driving distance also went up to 304 yards on Friday.
Despite playing at the Home of Golf for the first time, the Indian showed he is still capable of mastering the intricacies of the links course.
“St Andrews is about putting yourself into a good position off the tee. If you can do that, you can think about playing aggressively.
“If you’re not in position, you’ll then be looking at targets where you can hit and make pars easily. I made sure I was able to do that and I think the result showed today,”
Lahiri is now all set to be the first Indian to make the cut on two occasions at the British Open. He earlier made the cut during the 2012 Open Championship, his debut Major appearance, when he finished tied 31st.
Anirban is now also in line to achieve a couple of other landmarks in Indian golf. He has a good chance of improving upon Jyoti Randhawa’s tied 27th finish at The Open in 2004, the best result by an Indian at Golf’s oldest Major so far. Jeev Milkha Singh’s tied ninth finish at the 2008 PGA Championship, the best result for an Indian at a Major so far, could also be within Lahiri’s sight.
Meanwhile, at the PGA Tour's Barbasol Championship being played in Auburn, Alabama, India's Arjun Atwal was placed tied 20th at five-under-137 with scores of 69 and 68. He was four shots off the pace.
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