Lahiri goes 1-under in steady Valspar Championship start

By Rahul Banerji

Anirban Lahiri recorded a steady 1-under par 71 on the opening day of the $67 million Valspar Championship to sit in a tie for 28^th place and four behind the leaders at Palm Harbour, Florida, on Thursday.

Atop the leaderboard on 5-under 66s were Joel Dahman of the US and Austrian Sepp Straka, with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Players Championship runner-up Jim Furyk all bunched at T11 on 2-under par 69s.

Tweeted Lahiri after his round, “Nice start today @ValsparChamp on the fair but demanding #Copperhead course. #currypower all week long!”

Small blemish

Over his round, Lahiri had a clean outward nine and picked up two strokes on his way back to the clubhouse, though he was also to drop a shot between the birdies.

Overall, given the way his putter has behaved since the start of the season, India’s lone flag-bearer on the PGA Tour will be pleased with his Valspar opener, as the tweet suggested.

The cut is projected to fall at 1-over 72 at the Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead course.

A little bit of history was also scripted when New Zealand’s Russel Knox recorded the first-ever albatross at the Valspar, hammering a 3-wood 275 yards for his second shot on the par-5 11^th hole that ran on and on, straight at and into the cup.

Aditi struggles

At the $1.5 million Founders Cup on the LPGA tour in Phoenix, Arizona, Aditi Ashok was tied for 90^th place with a 1-over par card, well behind leader Celine Boutier of France who had an 8-under on Thursday, the opening day.

Meanwhile, Gaganjeet Bhullar (-4) was the best-placed of 10 Indians in the field at the $3 million Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, three behind leaders Marcus Fraser of Australia and Spain’s Nacho Elvira.

Two-time Indian Open winner S.S.P. Chawrasia was 3-under, Viraj Madappa 2-under, defending champion Shubhankar Sharma 1-under, while Ajeetesh Sandhu, Arjun Atwal, Khalin Joshi, Chikkarangappa S., Rahil Ganjee and Shiv Kapur were further down the field.

View all the action in Kuala Lumpur as it unfolds here: Maybank Championship

Also read: Diksha Dagar scripts a bit of history with SA Women’s Open win