Poor finish ruins early good work for Lahiri

One terrible hole late in the afternoon, when conditions were not at their best, cost Anirban Lahiri very dearly. Till the 15th Lahiri, playing his second Masters, had held out strongly at even par and was tied around 20th. Suddenly he went off the boil and in a space of two holes – 16th and 17th - he was four-over. He came off the course at four-over 76 and knowing well that he would need to put together a solid and low second round to make the weekend of the much revered tournament for the second year running.

Despite tougher conditions than last year, when he won the Masters, Jordan Spieth opened with a error-free 66 and went two clear of Danny Lee and Shane Lowry, while Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Soren Kjeldsen, Ian Poulter and Justin Rose, were all tied at 69 each.

World No. 1 Jason Day carded 72 and was Tied-21st, while Rory McIlroy sailing at four-under through 15, bogeyed 16 and 18 and ended at 70. Lahiri was expectedly disappointed, “It was a bad finish, like a kick in the stomach. I think I played decently till that and then it came off.”

He added, “I felt I put myself in a good spot with some good recoveries despite not putting well enough. I am not sure what happened on 16th, probably tried to hard and pulled it. Anyway if the conditions stay as hard on Saturday, when I go out in the morning, I can pull myself up with a good round while scoring stays as it was today.” At the start, birdies on Par-3 sixth, with a great tee to within a foot, and 14th where he made his longest putt off the day at 15 feet made up for bogeys on fourth and 11th and he turned in even par. On the back nine, a straight forward par on 10th, was followed by some adventure on the 11th at the Amen Corner. He went left off the tee and then over the green, between the pond and the Rae’s creek, from where he chipped over on the other side of the green. He ended with a bogey.