By Rahul Banerji
Arjun Atwal and Anirban Lahiri made it to the money rounds of the inaugural Bermuda Championship in Southampton, though they were some way down the leader-board at the Port Royal Golf Club on Friday.
Atwal carded a second successive 2-under par 69 to sit in shared 40th place while Lahiri slipped from his top-10 placing overnight with a 2-over par round of 73 to be tied 43rd, one shot behind.
A three-way tie at the top between day one leader Scottie Scheffler, Harry Higgs and Brendon Todd meant the event still wore a wide open look with 36 holes to play.
The three Americans were 11-under 131, one shot ahead of another three-man pack on 10-under 132 that included Book Weekley, Aarn Wise and Wes Roach (all USA), and two up on Scotland’s Russel Knox.
Steady golf
Atwal mixed two birdies against a dropped shot on his outward nine and thereafter played steady golf on his way home., His back nine was largely uneventful, other than a birdie on the penultimate hole that pushed the Asansol-born Atwal one place up in the standings.
The 46-year-old Atwal now plays a restricted season and is making only his fourth start, having missed the cut in his first three starts, most recently at the Houston Open.
Lahiri had a more eventful day, with a triple-bogey and three bogies in his second round that also included four birdies for a 2-over card.
The Florida-based Lahiri had a solid 5-under 66 on the opening day but was unable to build on that, dropping a shot on each of his final two holes, after he had birdied his 16th of the day.
McIlroy grabs sole lead
In Shanghai, FedEx Cup winner Rory McIlroy hit his third straight 67 at the $10.25 million World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions at the Sheshan International Golf Club to lead the field by one shot on 15-under 201 on Saturday with 18 holes to go.
Hard-charging South African Louis Oozthuizen was on 14-under 202, carding the round of the day with his 7-under 65, just ahead of defending champion Xander Schauffele of the US and Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick.
It is the 30-year-old McIlroy’s second start of the 2019-20 season after the Zozo Championship in Japan last week where he finished third and is the form player at the moment, with three wins in his last 14 starts on the PGA Tour.
In the past, the Northern Irishman has gone on to win six times holding the sole lead after 54 holes
‘One more round’
“Yeah, it was nice,” he said after his Saturday round. “It’s funny, I was on the phone to my manager, Sean, last night, and I just shot two 67s and he said another two 67s and should get the job done.
“I’m halfway there for that. I think if I can go out tomorrow and play similar to how I did today, I should have a good chance to win. But I probably played the best today that I’ve played all week.
“I drove the ball well. Hit my irons pretty good for the most part. I feel like I didn’t quite get as much out of the round as I could have but I’m not going to complain.
“I’m in the lead going into tomorrow, so yeah, just need to rest up and try to get out there and play another good, solid round of golf. Louis, he’s been up there a lot. I think — has he finished second in all four majors? So that’s a pretty — it’s hard to win.
“He obviously won The Open in 2010. I feel like a lot of times where I’ve played well, he’s played well.”
Added Oosthuizen, “Played solid golf today. I’m rolling the ball nicely on the greens, and need to have another good one tomorrow.
On the up
“It’s been getting better every round. Struggled in the first two rounds with my driver but was a little bit better today. Still a few wayward ones there in the middle of the round, but you know, I’m hitting my irons very good and I’m rolling the ball nicely, so that helps.
“You need to drive it good. If you drive it good around this golf course, with the greens being the way they are, you can score low. You can have a low score because it’s like I said before, I think it’s the best I’ve seen the greens before.
“I played with Rory the last two rounds last week. He’s absolutely striping it. I need to play really good golf tomorrow.”
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