Hilton Head (US): Returning to action after a gap of three weeks, Anirban Lahiri was unable to capitalise on a superb start and finished with one-over 72 on a blustery morning to lie 77th after the first round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament here, Thursday.
Lahiri, who has been struggling this season with just one top-10 in 11 starts, began well when he sank a 20-footer for birdie on the first hole. The Indian then hit good second and third shots on the par-5 second to get with 27 inches of the cup for a tap-in birdie and go two-under in two. Thereafter his play was patchy, as he hit only eight of the 18 greens in regulation.
On the par-5 fifth, Lahiri hit his tee shot into the fairway bunker, followed by getting into another fairway bunker. He hit his fourth shot to the green and two-putted for a bogey. Lahiri went into the water on seventh and after a drop, he hit to eighth feet for a bogey, thus wiping out both his early birdies. His game deteriorated thereafter.
On the back nine, he had three birdies and on two occasions he gave back those gains on the very next hole. A third bogey on 17th was made up with a birdie on 18th.
At the top, Shane Lowry showed that he is indeed in form as he fired six-under 65 to take the lead, while Ryan Palmer, Luke List, Daniel Berger, Trey Mullinax, and Ryan Moore are all tied for second at 5-under.
Rory Sabbatini, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, Scott Piercy, Kevin Na, Peter Malnati, and Alex Noren are tied for seventh at 4 under.
