By Rahul Banerji
Anirban Lahiri survived a back-nine mini-meltdown before carding a second successive card in the 60s to move into the weekend rounds of the PGA Tour’s season-ending Wyndham Championship on Friday.
Over in England, Shubhankar Sharma was in a share of 19th place nine shots off the pace at the Cazoo Classic at the London Golf Club in Kent, following up rounds of 70 and 71 with a 4-under par 68 on Saturday.
Lahiri backed his first-round 67 with a 1-under par 69 though he had to overcome three dropped shots – a bogey and a double – en route to a share of 42nd place.
At one point, he had climbed into the top 10, on the back of some steady driving at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina. The 34-year-old however, picked up two shots in his final four holes to ensure his presence over the weekend.
Russel Henry took a four-shot lead over the field into Moving Day on 14-under 126. He followed his record-equalling 8-under 62 of Thursday with a 64 on Friday.
Behind his is a three-way tie for second place on 10-under 130 between Slovakia’s Olympic Games silver medallist Rory Sabbatini, and Americans Scott Piercy and 2011 Wyndham winner Webb Simpson.
Two early birdies on Friday took Lahiri to 2-under and into the top-10, but bogeys on 7 and 13, with a double on 12, dropped him back despite a gained shot on 10.
Two further birdies though ensured the Florida-based Lahiri was back in the red, and safely across the cut line which came at 3-under 137 with 74 from a field of 156 going through to the weekend.
Former Hero World Challenge winner Rickie Fowler was amongst those going out of contention along with Augusta Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama. Fowler also failed to make the upcoming FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in his 12 years on the PGA Tour.
Sharma through
In Kent, England, Shubhankar Sharma turned in a Moving Day card of 4 under 68 to climb 15 plades on the Cazoo Classic leader-board at the London GC in Kent. It followed rounds of 70 and 71, and on 7-under 206, he is T20 along with seven others.
Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard made a charge with a 10-under 62 to take the clubhouse lead heading into Sunday. The slim Dane brought back a bogey-free card that was studded with 10 birdies, .six of them on the front nine alone.
The 20-year-old brought no great form to the London GC, a tied 17th his recent best, at the BMW International Open back in June though he is already a two-time winner on the European Tour.
Sharma opened and closed with dropped shots, a bogey to start and a double to finish but seven birdies in between, five on the front nine alone.
The 25-year-old has made the cut in his last three starts including a tied 16th at the Hero Open at St Andrews last week. He is currently 124th in the Race to Dubai, the European Tour’s Order of Merit.
Also read: Lahiri seeks a miracle to ensure podium, and a Tokyo medal
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.