Currypower sizzles and then fizzles for T22 finish at Zurich Classic

By Rahul Banerji

Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma survived some back nine nerves to record a 1-under par round in the alternate balls foursomes format that gave them a tied 22^nd place finish in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Sunday.

In a share of 29^th place overnight after Saturday’s fourball, the Indians – flying the Currypower flag for all to see – started Sunday strongly with four birdies on their outward nine.

The foursomes is at best difficult format with the double pressure of making good shots and keeping one’s partner in play as much as possible, and the duo had at one point climbed all the way up to 10^th place.

Hard work

The back nine was more difficult with three dropped shots that undid the good work earlier. It was still a creditable sub-par round on a day the best card was 4-under and eventual Classic champions Jon Rahm of Spain and Ryan Palmer of the US finished on 3-under.

After a difficult second day that saw players needing to complete round one to start with thanks to thunderstorms in the area , an exhausted-looking Lahiri had tweeted, “Putting our feet up @PGATOUR therapy trailer after a hard and long day’s work. Time to bring the spice on the weekend.”

It was a statement of intent

Overall, Lahiri and Sharma recorded a 16-under four-day score to tie for 22^nd place alongside seven other pairings that include the Koepka brothers, Brooks and Chase. They finished 10 shots back of the winners, and eight behind second-placed Sergio Garcia (Spain) and Tommy Fleetwood (England).

There was a distinct international flavor to the Zurich Classic leader-board with a Korean (Kyoung-Hoon Lee) and a Slovakian/South African (Rory Sabbatin) amongst the top three.

Title joy

For the winners, there was double joy. Palmer, 42, ended a nine-year title drought while for the 24-year-old Rahm, it was a third PGA Tour win in as many years and seventh overall. “He’s got a special art, that’s for sure,” Palmer said of his partner.

“It’s really fun to play with a guy that can not only hit the ball the way he does, but watching his short game – I learned so much from watching it, the shots he hits when he’s got a bump-and-run or flop it…

 “He’ll be winning lots of tournaments, multiple majors … honoured to be a part of his story.”

Rahm said playing the foursomes format at the Classic was a challenge. “Obviously I had full confidence in Ryan all week, but even some moments as a player, like man, I can see this shot but I can’t hit it,” he said. “It’s definitely the hardest thing, at least it was for me.”

Diksha finishes T17 in Morocco

In Rabat, Morocco, Diksha Dagar brought in a level-par 73 for a par 292 total that fetched her tied-17^th place at the Lalla Meryem Cup on Sunday.

Diksha, 19, who won the Women’s South African Open last month, was in the top three for the first two rounds, before slipping. It was her sixth start overall as a professional and she has made the cut in five of them and won once.

She shot 69, 75, 75, and 73 and was the best of the three Indians, who made the cut.

Tvesa Malik was four-under at one stage, but ultimately finished three-under 70, her best round for the week for a T41 placing on 7-over 299. Astha Madan closed with a 77 and a total of 9-over 301 for T50^th place.

Spain’s Nuria Iturrios shot her four successive sub-par round to emerge a comfortab winner at 13-under 279, seven shots ahead of Caroline Hedwall (70) and Lina Bonqvist (77), who were tied second at 6-under 286.

Also read: Lahiri, Sharma link up for Zurich Classic of New Orleans