Lahiri struggles to fiveover, Kisner shoots 66 for early lead
American golfer emerges surprise leader; Indian looks to make amends in Round 2
CARNOUSTIE: Anirban Lahiri endured a poor day in his opening round of the 147th Open Championship – a birdie-less five-over 76 on Thursday — leaving him with plenty to do if he has to keep alive his chances until Sunday.
The Indian’s effort certainly got undermined by tightness in his back that has bothered him and reduced his practice round to just two holes on Monday. Most of his mistakes were because he kept pushing his shots right, and a couple of three-putt bogeys did not help matters.
With his compatriot Shubhankar Sharma having teed off late in the afternoon in his debut Open and two-over after 11 holes — also without a birdie thus far — Lahiri was tied for 135th place.
American Kevin Kisner was the surprise man on top , having turned around a recent poor run with a five-under 66 taking full advantage of early morning conditions. But the loudest cheers were reserved for Tiger Woods, who was two-under after 11 holes in decidedly tougher afternoon conditions.
Former Open champion Rory Mcilroy opened his campaign with a two-under 69. Defending champion Jordan Spieth dropped four shots in his last four holes to waste a good start and closed with a one-over par 72. Also struggling was current world No1 Dustin Johnson, who matched Lahiri’s 76 with a triple bogey seven on the last hole.
“It was just a poor ball-striking day, and compounded it on the greens. It obviously hurts when you end a round with making a birdie, but I did not give myself many chances of making them today,” said Lahiri, who is playing his sixth Open Championship — an Indian record.
The day did not start off on a bright note when Lahiri’s birdie putt on the first hole from 12 feet did a complete horseshoe of the hole and stayed out. He then saw his chip shot on the second hole for birdie shave the edge of the cup, but that too stayed out.
After a composed par on the third began a stretch of 11 holes where his ball-striking went completely off. The worst mistakes came on the ninth and 10th holes. On the ninth, he smashed a threeiron into the fairway bunker, a cardinal sin at Carnoustie, and had to chip out backwards. On the par-4 10th, he pushed his tee shot way right into thick rough and walked off with a double bogey.
However, Lahiri did put up a gutsy display towards the end, making two big par saves on the tough 17th and 18th holes. On the 17th, he sank a 12-footer for par and then on the 18th, a heroic shot from the fairway bunker led to another par when a bogey looked imminent. “I would rather have made a birdie on the last. That would have given me some momentum for tomorrow,” said a rueful Lahiri.
“The course is not playing as easy as it was in the morning, because of the wind. There’s definitely harder wind on the back nine. But it’s the same for anymore, so I have to adjust to it.
“Five-over is not the position I want to be in. But now that I am there, I need to think of getting in a low one tomorrow. I need to be a little bit more solid off the tees,” said Lahiri.