By Rahul Banerji
Anirban Lahiri turned in a resilient 67 to share eighth place on the weather-affected opening day of the men’s golf competition of the Tokyo Olympic Games on Thursday.
Adding to the Indian’s mantra of Curry Power was the Asia Rising theme with Thailand star Jazz Janewattanond taking second place with a final-hole birdie at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.
The young Thai returned a flawless 7-under par 64 and was two ahead of Philippines sensation Juvic Pagunsan, in shared fifth place on 5-under 66. Austria’s Sepp Straka was the surprise day one leader with an 8-under 63.
Home hero and reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan turned in a 69 for a share of 20th place.
Lahiri opened with bogey but recovered well to be 3-under early on with four birdies in a five hole-stretch and inside the top-5.
Hitting back
But a second bogey saw the two-time Olympian fall out of even the top-10 before he hit back with two straight birdies to sign off for a share of eighth alongside three others.
“It was good. I think I started off a little dodgy the first few holes, couldn’t get my rhythm going early. But then I settled down nicely. I think I played pretty good,” Lahiri said afterwards.
Straka produced a flawless 63 sprinkled with eight birdies to lead the field as 60 top golfers from around the world set off in chase of gold, silver and bronze this week.
Added Lahiri, “I probably feel like I could have taken some more chances, some opportunities on the back nine I didn’t make as many birdies as I could have.
“But I’m playing well, so I have to build on this and as you can see already there’s a lot of opportunities if it keeps playing like this, soft, there’s not much rain today, then you have to go out there and just really be aggressive and make a lot of putts.”
Lahiri is determined to earn a podium finish after finishing a disappointing 57th in Rio 2016 having carried an injury to Brazil.
Upbeat mode
Fresh from a season’s best third place outing at the 3M Open on the PGA Tour recently, the 34-year-old Indian is upbeat he can contend this week.
“I truly feel like a veteran now, because there’s pretty much nothing that I haven’t played that there is to play,” said Lahiri, a PGA Tour member since 2016.
“To that extent I felt surprisingly calm and relaxed and focused on what I needed to do.
“So really not that much different, which is a great sign for me because I want to be able to play with that attitude through the week and play my best.”
At home
Lahiri feels at home at the par-71 Kasumigaseki’s East course, and reckons he needs to keep firing at the flags to stay in the medal hunt.
“I got a full 36 (holes) in, nine every day the four days leading up to the event, so I felt pretty comfortable on the golf course,” he said.
“Obviously the tournament setup’s going to be a little different but I feel like it wasn’t as hard as they could make it.
“To that extent it was pretty gettable today. I think in the lead-up to the last few days, it’s been much more windy, today we barely had any wind, so a good day to go out and take advantage.
“The greens are beautiful, they’re perfect, they’re rolling great, the golf course is immaculate.
“I’m satisfied, I would have liked to be a couple of shots better, closer, but three more days to go,” said Lahiri.
Starting in the final group, Udayan Mane shot a 5-over 76 that included two late double-bogeys to end the day in 60th and last place.
Also read: Olympic Update: Golf men’s draw out, late start for Mane
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