Indian pro golfers in action worldwide, Lahiri fires it up in Florida

By Rahul Banerji

Anirban Lahiri hit a 3-under par 67 for a share of sixth place behind overnight leader Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida where he makes his home now, while Gaganjeet Bhullar was the best among the three Indians at the Oman Open, which also got underway on Thursday.

Another six were in action at the 100th New Zealand Open and across the Tasman Sea, five women professionals had teed up in the ActewAGL Canberra Classic.

At the $6.8 million Honda Classic, Lahiri had a rollercoaster ride on the par-70 Champion Course of the PGA National Resort and Spa with seven birdies against two bogeys and a double.

Playing alongside Charl Schwartzl and Ben Crane, he two-putted the par-4 11^th hole after finding water and dropped a shot each on a further two par-4s.

Having bagged four birdies in his first 11 holes, Lahiri surged back on his inbound nine, picking up four strokes over the final six holes to share sixth place with 13 others including Sergio Garcia, Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka.

Mixed bag

In Oman, Bhullar had three birdies against two bogeys to finish on 1-under 71 for tied 30^th place, five behind first day leader Kurt Kitayama of the US.

Shubhankar Sharma brought in a level par round that had two birdies and two bogeys and two-time Indian Open winner S.S.P. Chawrasia carded a 5-over 77, needing a strong second round to make the weekend.

Kitayama got off to another fast start as he fired a 66 to take the first round lead. The American, who came through all three stages of Qualifying School in 2018, was a winner in just his third European Tour start at the Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open at Anahita.

He began that week with a 63 and his opening round at Al Mouj Golf was the fourth time he had gone under 70 for his first 18 holes in 2019, although it was the first time he had held a first round lead.

Kitayama made an eagle and four birdies to get to six under and sit a shot ahead of Scotsman Scott Jamieson and Japan’s Yusaku Miyazato.

Diksha best-placed in Canberra

Rookie Diksha Dagar went 1-under par 70, rallying from three-over through 11 holes to find four birdies in the last seven at the ActewAGL Canberra Classic on Friday.

Dagar, who represented India at the 2018 Asian Games and is a medallist from the 2017 Summer Deaflympics, turned pro only this year, though she has won a pro title while an amateur in India.

Diksha bogeyed the fourth, fifth and tenth holes, before beginning getting her first birdie on the 11^th. That sparked a late charge to carry her to tied-29^th even as Vani Kapoor finished birdie-birdie for shared 55^th place.

Amandeep Drall shot a 73 and was T-68^th, even as Tvesa Malik (76) and Astha Madan (77) were well down the field.

American Amelia Lewis shot a flawless 6-under 65 in the morning wave to lead the pack. She carded six birdies and twelve pars and leads by a single shot over Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall, Finland’s Noora Komulainen and Belgian Manon De Roey. 

Three make cut in New Zealand

Shiv Kapur, S. Chikkarangappa and Ajeetesh Sandhu made the cut at the 100th New Zealand Open on Friday. Kapur shot a 2-under 69 at the par-71 Millbrook Resort course after a 2-under 70 at the Hills Course on Thursday, while Chikka went 3-under 69 at par-72 Hills Course after a 1-under 70 at Millbrook. Both had totals of 139.

Sandhu, who was three-under 69 on Thursday shot a level par 71 at Milbrook for a total of 140 and a share of 44^th place.

The cut fell at three-under and 62 players made the grade, Rahil Gangjee (142), Khalin Joshi (142) and Viraj Madappa (147) missing out.

Asian Tour Qualifying school graduate Zach Murray returned a seven-under-par 65 to seize the outright lead by five shots at the halfway stage. The 21-year-old Australian, who held a share of the overnight lead, made an eagle-birdie start before adding five more birdies against a bogey to lead on 15-under-par 128 in the NZ$1,250,000 event.

Overnight co-leader Ryuko Tokimatsu had a two-under-par 69 to take second at the event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia.

Also read: New daddy Anirban back in PGA Tour action at Genesis Open