Anirban Lahiri finishes tied 44th at Heritage golf on PGA Tour

Anirban Lahiri was unable to maintain the tempo he set in the third round and rounded off the week with a one-over 72 that saw him finish in tied 44th place, down 17 places from his overnight tied 27, at the RBC Heritage golf tournament here. It was the second straight cut for Lahiri, who also made the weekend at the Masters a week earlier. Slowly coming to grips with conditions in the United States, Lahiri shot two of his four rounds in 60s, including a 66 in the third round, to show gradual improvement. [caption id=“attachment_2204336” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Anirban Lahiri. Getty[/caption] Lahiri seemed to be inching towards a better finish inside Top-30 as he birdied twice against one bogey on front nine. But back to back bogeys 11th and 12th saw him fall and he was unable to convert any of the birdie chances over the last seven holes, which he parred. At four-under 280, it was also Lahiri’s first under-par total in the US and should augur well for his confidence as he prepares for the other Majors, WGC-Cadillac and the Players Championship at TPC. Meanwhile, Jim Furyk, winner of the RBC Heritage in 2010, who had gone 100 starts without winning, won his first title in five years with birdies on both play-off to beat Kevin Kisner, who will have to wait for his first PGA Tour title. The win fetched Furyk, 44, a USD 1.062 million payday. Furyk shot a 63 and Kevin Kisner a 64, leaving them both at 18-under 266. Furyk had six birdies on his first nine holes, including a 48-footer on the par-4 eighth that moved him in front. A bogey on the 11th dropped Furyk into a four-way tie for first, but he responded with birdies on three of the next four holes. Kisner birdied the 14th and 15th to pull within a stroke and stuck his approach on the signature lighthouse hole at No. 18 within 7 feet for a tying birdie. Furyk led by a stroke when Kisner birdied the 72nd hole to force the playoff. On the first extra hole, Kisner rolled in a second straight birdie putt on the 18th. But Furyk answered with a birdie to keep the playoff going. After Kisner missed his birdie try on No. 17, Furyk sank a 12-foot putt for his 17th career PGA TOUR victory. When the winning putt fell on the par-3 17th in the second play-off hole, the typically reserved Furyk dropped his putter and punched the air. Furyk won for the second time at RBC Heritage, the other coming in 2010 in what turned out to be the best year of his career. He won two other events, including the TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola and captured the FedExCup. Furyk, the 2003 US Open winner, was 0-of-9 when leading tournaments after three rounds since winning the TOUR Championship in 2010. When Furyk won in 2010, Brian Davis tied him on the final hole to force a playoff – won by Furyk when Davis struck a loose impediment on his swing and called a penalty on himself. Third-round leader Troy Merritt was at 16 under after a 69. Defending champion Matt Kuchar (68) was at 14 under and Masters winner Jordan Spieth (70) was eight shots back. Jordan Spieth finished tied 11th after a closing 70. He has had an amazing five-tournament stretch, during which he won the Valspar Championship a month ago and followed that with seconds at the Valero Texas Open and the Shell Houston Open before matching Tiger Woods’ record of 18-under at Augusta National. Spieth has played 19 of his last 20 rounds under par. On Sunday, golfers went off in groups of three on the first and 10th tees starting at 7:30 a.m. to beat expected stormy weather later in the day. PTI