By Rahul Banerji
Anirban Lahiri handed in a level par card of 70 to drop to tied-13th at the midway stage of the $6.8 million Honda Classic at the PGA National on Friday.
Lahiri (67-70) was 3-under 137 and placed alongside opening round leader, Jhonattan Vegas (64-73), Sergio Garcia of Spain and eight others.
South Korea’s Sungjae Im and Keith Mitchell of the USA were tied for the lead at 6-under par 134. Lucas Glover, who won the US Open in 2009 at Bethpage, was third at five-under and a bunch that numbered Brooks Koepka in the ranks was fourth at 4-under 136.
The group includes Freddie Jacobson, Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Adam Svensson, Sung Kang, Adam Schenk, Ryan Armour, Wyndham Clark, and Danny Lee.
Warm putter
Lahiri, whose best finish this season was a shared tenth the Mayakoba Classic in early November missed the cut at the Desert Classic and Genesis Open and will be relieved to have found some putting form and make the cut in a position to challenge for the top.
On Friday, Lahiri hit nine of 14 fairways and nine of 18 greens in regulation. On the green he nailed everything within 10 feet and also had a 26-footer for par on his first hole of the day. In all he exchanged two birdies for as many dropped shots.
Bhullar, Shubhankar make cut at Oman
In Muscat, Gaganjeet Bhullar shot a three-under 69 in difficult conditions at the Oman Open to bring in a card with a 69 following his 70 in first round to share third place at 5-under 140 while Shubhankar Sharma (72-74) was tied-31st.
Two-time Indian Open winner S.S.P. Chawrasia (77-77) made an early exit.
Bhullar was one shot behind leaders Max Kieffer and Joachim Hansen on 5-under 139s.
Bhullar said he had rarely encountered such conditions before. “These conditions are, by far, the toughest I’ve ever played in. The goal is to stay focused and relaxed and give 100 per cent at the weekend.
“I need to keep the ball in play, hit a lot of fairways and greens in regulation and give myself a lot of birdie looks. That will be the key for the next 36 holes. Anybody who plays in regulation and makes key birdies will be at the top of the leaderboard.
“We were mentally prepared for this stop-play-stop because the weather forecast for the day said so, had an idea we would have come back. This is not the first time, but these are the toughest conditions I have played in,” he added.
On Friday, things got so bad during a dust storm that play even had to be suspended for lack of visibility.
Lying 3-under for 10 holes when play was stopped on Friday, Bhullar found two early birdies to top leaderboard, but he gave away two shots to finish 69, the second best card of the round.
Kapur lines up strong finish
In Queenstown, New Zealand, Shiv Kapur moved up the leaerboard with a 5-under 67 and with the chance of a strong finish at the 100th New Zealand Open on Saturday.
Kapur, who won three times in 2017, shot six birdies against one bogey, taking his total to 9-under for shared 17th place, up from T26 overnight, while S. Chikkarangappa (68) moved one place up to T25 after being tied with Kapur overnight.
Ajeetesh Sandhu shot a 2-under 70 for tied-42nd place.
Australian Zach Murray (70), who began the second day with a five-shot lead, was 17-under and leading by one over local player Josh Geary (63) at 16-under.
Kapur made three birdies on his out nine and and added a fourth after the turn to make it four-under. A bogey against two further birdies saw him close the day well.
Diksha lone Indian to make cut
In Canberra, Australia, the consistent Diksha Dagar hit a second straight 1-under 70 to make the cut at the Canberra Classic on Saturday. With rounds of 70-70, Diksha was 2-under 140 and tied 23rd nine shots behind leaders, Katja Pogacar (64) of Slovenia and Anne Van Damm (63) of Holland, at the Royal Canberra.
The leaders were 11-under with Scotland’s Carly Booth breathing down their neck with a 6-under 65 for third place.
The 18-year-old Diksha was the lone Indian to make the weekend as Vani Kapoor (72-75), Tvesa Malik (76-74), Amandeep Drall (73-78) and Astha Madan (77-76) all missed the cut at 1-over 142.
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