Golf: Anirban Lahiri exits Players Championship early but vows to be back

Florida: Indian pro golfer Anirban Lahiri finished his six-week stint in the United States on a somewhat disappointing note, missing the cut at the 10m USD PLAYERS Championships in Ponte Vedra here, but he vowed to be back again. Lahiri, 27, carded 76 and 72 in his two rounds and was done in by the couple of doubles and one triple bogey. [caption id=“attachment_2236936” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Anirban Lahiri. AFP[/caption] “I loved the course, it was one of the most beautiful golf courses and one of the best layouts I have ever played on. I will be much better prepared when I return. I still feel like my best is not too far away. I need to put together two or three solid rounds consecutively to get my confidence high again. Till then I’ll keep working hard and be patient about the results,” said Lahiri. Lahiri said he felt he had played decent, but just fell short at times. “I think played better than what the scores suggest I made some errors on a couple of holes and my putter worked in bits and pieces. So, I know a good week is around the corner,” he said. Talking of his stint in the US, Lahiri added, “It has been a great learning experience, these past few weeks. Playing Houston, Masters, Heritage, the WGC Matchplay and the WGC Championships earlier on and then the PLAYERS. These were all a first for me. I made the cut on a couple of occasions, won a good match at Matchplay, came close on some occasions, so it taught me a lot, but I feel I can do better.” He also said, “I met a lot of players and feel more like I belong here after this stretch. Also I have played on both sides of the country and different weather and grasses. I will be even better prepared when I come back Memorial and the US Open later on.” Meanwhile, Chris Kirk (70-68-68) after three birdies on front nine, made three in a row from 15th to 17th after two back to back bogeys on 13th and 14th. That gave a one-shot lead over Kevin Kisner ((73-67-67), Bill Haas (72-67-68) and Ben Martin (68-71-68). Second round co-leader Kevin Na (67-69-72) dropped to tied fifth alongside five others including Sergio Garcia, a past champion, and Jerry Kelly who shared the halfway lead with Garcia. Rory McIlroy (70) is at six-under to Kirk’s 10-under while Tiger Woods shot 75, his equaling his worst ever at TPC Sawgrass and he was tied 68th, in a group of 10 that former the bottom of the field. PTI