Anirban Lahiri makes an early exit from the PGA Championship

Louisville: India’s Anirban Lahiri gave it all, but it was not enough to keep him for the weekend as he missed the cut by a fair margin at the 96th PGA Championships here. Lahiri added a second round 73 to the 72 he had on Thursday to get to three-over 145 but the cut was at even at the wet and damp Valhalla Golf Club. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy added a round of 67 to his first 66 and moved to nine-under and to the top, two shots clear of Ryan Palmer (65-70). [caption id=“attachment_1657185” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Anirban Lahiri. Getty Sports[/caption] Lee Westwood and Kevin Chappell, two of the three overnight leaders – Palmer being the third – had just begun and were even par for first two holes. Tiger Woods facing a fourth missed cut in a Major in his career, had also just started and parred the first hole. He shot 74 in the first round. Lahiri admitted making far too many mistakes and was also clearly somewhat rusty as he was still recovering from the illness and chicken pox suffered during the British Open three weeks ago. “That’s no excuse. Yes, I have not been 100 per cent but even then I should have played much better. I made far too many mistakes. Five bogeys in a round is way too many,” he said. The 50-minute delay in the morning because of rain that kept pouring through the day made things more difficult at the damp and soggy Valhalla. Lahiri was three-over on front stretch and one-under on the back nine. Lahiri bogeyed the first, fourth, sixth, eighth and the 14th. In between he birdied the third, 10th and 15th. While he was alright with his driving, getting almost 65 per cent onto the fairways, he failed on getting to the greens in regulations – managing a little over 55 per cent. He left a lot of putt short and missed a good number of chances that ought to have been converted from 15 feet or even 10 feet and under. “I had a bad start and then I had a three-putt from after being in the centre of the fairway on fourth. I consistently leaked shots on the sixth, the eight and then again on 14th. In between when I got chances I was not able to convert them,” a disappointed Lahiri later said. “It was great to get two chances at Majors in so short a time but unfortunately I was not able to use either. These have not been the healthiest weeks for me and I was not 100 per cent but I could have still played better,” he said. But Lahiri vowed to make a strong comeback. “I have learnt a lot. I have seen the big stage now and it motivates me to get back to it. I know I have a long way to go but I will be back, for sure,” he said. Lahiri, who plays in Fiji next week, will stay on for another day to practice at Valhalla with his coach, Vijay Divecha. PTI