By Rahul Banerji
Anirban Lahiri stayed in tied seventh place despite swirling winds and a misfiring driver after round two of the Sanderson Farms Championship on Friday.
The Florida-based Bangalorean hit just three fairways at Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi, but still brought in four birdies against a double bogey for a two-day total of 8-under 136.
He and three others including Sergio Garcia and Brant Snedeker trail leader Keegan Bradley by five shots heading into the weekend, the PGA Tour said.
Bradley, a four-time PGA Tour winner, had a 65 to go with his opening 66 to lead by two shots from J.T. Poston.
Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan carded a 69 that included five birdies and two bogeys for a share of 24th place on 139 while Korea’s Si Woo Kim (69), Sungjae Im (70) and K.H. Lee (73) all made the cut set at 141.
“I just didn’t hit enough fairways,” he told the PGA Tour later.
‘Guessing game’
“The wind kept swirling and it was a guessing game between the lies and the wind all day.
“Lost my concentration around the turn and just had to grind it out,” he added.
Starting from the 10th hole, Lahiri opened well with birdies on the 12th, 13th and 15th holes.
The first one was the result of a 25-foot conversion. The 33-year-old then followed up with exquisite approach shots to five inches and two feet for his next two birdies.
An error on the sixth hole on his way back was to prove costly when he missed the fairway and landed in the greenside bunker.
Lahiri needed four more shots to get into the hole for a double bogey six before signing off with a 10-foot birdie on his last hole.
The former Asian Tour no. 1 arrived this week on a roll after finishing tied sixth at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship on Sunday, which was his first top-10 on the PGA Tour in nearly two years.
Determination
Lahiri intends to maintain his place on the leader-board, if not push for a win this weekend, to get into next week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas through the top-10 exemption.
“I got in a good practice session afterwards, so I’m looking to improve my play over the weekend,” said Lahiri, who is in his sixth straight Tour season.
After 10 golfers went bogey free in round one, conditions reflected in the fact that barely half that number were able to do the same on Friday.
Also read: Lahiri makes a gamble pay with top-6 PGA Tour finish
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