By Rahul Banerji
Eight birdies were dented somewhat by two bogeys as Anirban Lahiri continued his hunt for a lost PGA Tour card on day two of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Albertsons Boise Open at the Hillcrest Country Club on Friday.
The second day charge carried Lahiri up and into the top 10, his two-day aggregate of 9-under par 133 (68, 65) putting him three shots shy of the outright lead in a share of sixth place.
The Indian star has showed steely focus since of the opening event of the three-tournament Korn Ferry Tour finals, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio last week. He put himself is a good space by Sunday, and has been in confident form in Boise.
Birdie run
On Friday, Lahiri had a string of four birdies in his opening six holes before dropping his first shot for the day.
A further gained stroke saw him make the turn on 4-under 32 and he was to pick up a further three shots in his way back to the clubhouse before a bogey on the 18th and final hole saw him drop back to tied sixth from a share of third place.
In replicated what had happened on day one as well, when he had closed four shots off the lead.
Lahiri earned full PGA Tour status through the feeder tour four years ago. He has since retained his card every year but a 178th place finish in the FedEx Cup ratings dropped him down into the Korn Ferry finals.
Closing in
According to predictive websites, Lahiri has closed to within touching distance of full Tour status, the forecast of his chances now as high as 99.7 per cent with one event to go.
After the Nationwide Children’s event, it was assessed he needed a top 20 finish at Boise, which is now a very manageable proposition.
Lahiri picked up 165 points from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Open, giving him sixth place in the non-exempt status standings of whom the top 25 get a PGA Tour card.
However, Shubhankar Sharma’s story was very different and for the second time in two weeks, he found himself out of the weekened rounds with a 6-over aggregate of 148 after Friday at Idaho.
Still with no points from the two Korn Ferry Tour finals, only a top-five finish at the final next week will give him a shot at full PGA Tour status.
At the top of the leader-board, Ryan Brehm of the US went 8-under 63, to sit one ahead of the pack up 13 places overnight. South Africa’s Justin Harding matched the feat that carried him up the chart to 8-under for the event and a share of 10th place,
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