Anirban Lahiri made a solid start with a three-under 67 that placed him in tied-23rd position after the first round of the Travelers Championship at Cromwell. The Indian ace, who is trying to find his form once again to get back to top-50, had four birdies, two on either side of the turn, against one bogey on the third hole.
Jordan Spieth, who led after every round last year before winning the title on his first appearance at the event, was once again in lead, sharing it with Zach Johnson. Both shot 7-under 63.
Lahiri, who has not won since his 2015 success at his home event, the Indian Open, putted much better than he has in last few weeks. That was despite missing a few between 10 and 15 feet and there was also one missed putt from inside four feet. But he also drained one from over 20 feet.
Vani Kapoor’s fine recovery
Vani Kapoor overcame a disastrous run of three bogeys in a row on the front nine to make the cut at European Thailand Championships at Pattaya.
Vani, who shot a solid 72 on first day, steadied herself on the back nine after being three-over for the front nine at the Phoenix Golf and Country Club. She shot 75 in the second round in scorching conditions. The Indian golfer is now three-over 147 for 36 holes as she made the cut on the line while India’s other challenger Gaurika Bishnoi (75-76) missed the cut.
Ridhima wins 7th leg
Ridhima Dilawari, who is on a summer break from Columbia University in the United States, joined a select band of amateurs, to win on the Women’s Pro Golf Tour.
The 20-year-old Delhi girl, who started the day three shots behind the overnight leader, Tvesa Malik, carded a brilliant 4-under 68 with eight birdies against four bogeys in an aggressive display of golf at Prestige Golfshire Golf course.
Ridhima, who is also part of the Indian team, which will play at the Asian Games later this year in Jakarta, added a 68 to her first two rounds of 75-76 to finish at 3-over and two shots ahead of Tvesa Malik (73) who totaled 221.
Ridhima joins the list of amateurs like Gurbani Singh, Aditi Ashok, Tvesa Malik (before she turned pro) and Diksha Dagar, who have won on the Hero WPG Tour. Yet another amateur, Seher Atwal (72) finished sole third with a total of 6-over 222. Amandeep Drall (74) at 224, Neha Tripathi (72) at 227 and Gursimar Badwal (75) at 229 were fourth to sixth.
Ganjee impresses in Korea
Rahil Gangjee produced the best card among Indian golfers to make a significant move in the second round of the Korea Open Golf Championship at Cheonan. Gangjee, who shot one-over 72 in the first round added a solid two-under 68 to get to one-under and Tied-17th place.
The 39-year-old from Kolkata was the best among the six Indians who made the cut for the weekend. Khalin Joshi (70-72) was Tied-29th, while Gaganjeet Bhullar (71-73) was Tied-39th and three others – S Chikkarangappa (70-75), Chiragh Kumar (72-73) and Ajeetesh Sandhu (73-72) made the cut on the line which fell at 3-over and were Tied-59th.