Lahiri stumbles after sound start at Bermuda Championship

By Rahul Banerji

Anirban Lahiri made a solid start to his campaign in the inaugural edition of the inaugural Bermuda Championship at the Port Royal Golf Club in Southampton with a 5-under 66 to sit four shots off the lead on Thursday.

The Indian star mixed three birdies against one dropped shot during his outbound nine on the hilly course and then picked up four shots against a further bogey on his way back to the clubhouse for a share of ninth place.

Making an early start on Friday however, Lahiri was in strife quickly. Starting from the back nine on day two, he picked up an early shot on the par-4 10^th hole but hit disaster on the very next one, needing to take a second tee shot.

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Lahiri then found the rough and had to scramble back on to the fairway, by which time he was already four down.

A two-putt finish meant he had dropped three shots on what is rated as the toughest hole on the course, which was the venue of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf from 2009 to 2014.

Four holes later, though, Lahiri cut the deficit on the day somewhat with a second birdie, which will leave him in a better frame of mind for the final 12 holes.

Up ahead on day one, 23-year-old Scottie Scheffler closed with a bogey for a 9-under 62 and a one-stroke lead Thursday after the first round of the PGA TOUR’s inaugural Bermuda Championship.

For his part, Arjun Atwal, 2-under 69 after day one, had picked up a further shot on Friday to be 3-under and three holes to go, clear of the cut line that is expected to fall at 1-under 143.

Focus on McIlroy

In China, FedExCup holder Rory McIlroy knocked in a final-hole eagle to climb into second place after two rounds in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions at the Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai on Friday.

The closing par-5 gave the Northern Irishman a second successive 5-under par 67 and left him one shot shy of England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick on 11-under 133 after he too hit a 67 on the day.

According to the PGA Tour website, defending champion Xander Schauffele, South Korea’s Sungjae Im and Adam Scott of Australia were tied third on 9-under 135s, one clear of local hero Li Haotong, who lead the field after day one, and Frenchman Victor Perez.

Outstanding record

Fitzpatrick is out to carry on his record of winning at least once every season since he qualified to the Tour through Q-School in 2014.

“The way I started, four under through six, I was thinking maybe shoot a better score than I shot yesterday, but you miss a couple fairways, miss a couple of greens and this course all of a sudden gets pretty tricky,” McIlroy was quoted as saying.

“It’s easy from the fairways, but I sort of veered off them a little bit around the middle of the round, but was able to get back on track. It was obviously nice to finish the way I did.

“I’m delighted with the first two rounds. To put myself right in contention going into the weekend is something that I wanted to do.

“It’s something that I haven’t done a lot of over the last few weeks. I’ve sort of had bad starts and then clawed my way back into a good position at the end, but to be right in the tournament after two days, I’m excited.”

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