Carnoustie (Scotland): Golfer Anirban Lahiri carded a five-over 76 on the opening day here Thursday, leaving him with a mountain to climb in his bid for a weekend appearance at the 147th The Open Championships (British Open) here.
The Carnoustie Golf Links course, which was baked on a warm morning, penalised visits to the fairway bunkers and did not make putting easy either.
The other Indian player Shubhankar Sharma had just teed off and parred the first hole while playing with Sergio Garcia and Bryson De Chambeau. He will finish around midnight IST.
Americans, who have won the last five Majors, and 10 of the last 14, dominated the leaderboard. Kevin Kisner led the field with a five-under 66 which included a colourful stretch of bogey-eagle-par-birdie from fifth and then he had a hat-trick of birdies from 13th to 15th and he survived the famous Carnoustie bite on the 16-18th hole to achieve an impressive score. Erik Van Rooyen of South Africa was second with a four-under 67.
Lahiri, trying to put on a brave smile said: “It was not the day I was hoping for. I didn’t get off to a good start. I missed a lot of shots I found too many fairway bunkers.”