Anirban Lahiri produced a sparkling finish of four consecutive birdies in the first round of his Hero Indian Open defence at the Delhi Golf Club, where American Daniel Im leads after a brilliant 65.
Lahiri, India’s number one player, made two birdies and two bogeys during an average front nine before back-to-back birdies around the turn seemed to ignite his title defence. He then gave those two shots back to the notoriously tricky Delhi Golf Club, but recovered magnificently to birdie his last four holes and trail Im by three.
Im’s seven under opening total came after a flalwless performance gave the 30 year old Qualifying School graduate from the USA a one shot lead over Thailand’s Prom Meesawat and the Spanish duo of Jorge Campillo and Nacho Elvira.
Five players, including India’s SSP Chawrasia and Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin who had a hole in one during his first round 67, are a further shot back. Lahiri is tied for tenth, in a six-strong group, while his three-time Major winning playing partner Padraig Harrington carded a one under par 71.
Full round one coverage available here
Key Quotes
Daniel Im: “There were a couple of times where I almost walked away with a bogey but I made the up-and-down. I managed stay cool. I’ve heard about this golf course so many times prior to this trip, so I came in with a bit of respect. I showed some respect and got some respect back.”
Anirban Lahiri: “Coming down the final stretch from the sixth to the ninth, it was nice to roll a few in. Walking down after the fourth, I told my caddie I haven’t played badly but I was five or six behind and the guys up there had made a fast start. The key was to stay in touch somehow. You don’t want to go too far behind, so I needed to gain some ground and stay in touch.
“I think it was on the walk from the fifth green to the sixth that I tried to clear my head and then it worked well. On the last few holes I also made some good putts from 12 feet. The putt that I missed from five feet on the 11th was something I did not trust. But in the second half I just let the green take the ball.”
Padraig Harrington: “I enjoyed it. It is a great course because it puts you under pressure all the way through. It is a good test of golf. I created problems on the greens. I could see at times I was a bit aggressive on a few tee boxes and got away with that. I might need to be a little bit more conservative for the next few rounds.
“I played better than my score especially early in my round. Finishing with a bogey isn’t a great thing. I would have been happier if I was three or four-under. That’s where I felt I should have been. That’s the game. We have another 54 holes to go so it is steady start but nothing too spectacular.”
First round scores
65 D Im (USA);
66 P Meesawat (Tha); J Campillo (Esp); N Elvira (Esp);
67 S Chawrasia (Ind); T Pilkadaris (Aus); J Wang (Kor); R Jacquelin (Fra); S Kumar (Ind);
68 H Baisoya (Ind); W Ormsby (Aus); T Fleetwood (Eng); G Havret (Fra); A Cañizares (Esp); A Lahiri (Ind);
69 V Chopra (Ind); R Gangjee (Ind); R Khan (Ind); N Thangaraja (Sri); D Lipsky (USA); M Kieffer (Ger); S Gros (Fra); S Rahman (Ban);
70 T Fisher Jnr (RSA); B Evans (Eng); C Paisley (Eng); A Atwal (Ind); C Lee (Sco); J Quesne (Fra); P Peterson (USA); M Tabuena (Phi); P Larrazábal (Esp); M Dharma (Ind); S Das (Ind); C Nirat (Tha); R Wattel (Fra); D Chia (Mas); T Khrongpha (Tha); A Que (Phi);
71 O Chouhan (Ind); J Kruger (RSA); S Sharma (Ind); D Brooks (Eng); R Paratore (Ita); J Janewattananond (Tha); S Barr (Aus); A Lascuna (Phi); S Khan (Ind); L Weber (Fra); P Harrington (Irl); R McEvoy (Eng); A Lohan (Ind); A Prasad (am) (Ind);
72 A Rohana (Sri); P Uihlein (USA); U Van Den Berg (RSA); U Mane (Ind); M Korhonen (Fin); B Munson (USA); A Kumar (Ind); B Henson (USA); K Richardson (Aus); M Mamat (Sin); M Hoey (Nir); T Wiratchant (Tha); M Perera (Sri); S Lee (Kor); K Joshi (Ind); S Kapur (Ind); S Hend (Aus); A Da Silva (Bra); P Junhasavasdikul (Tha); C Phadungsil (Tha); J Singh (Ind);
73 A Otaegui (Esp); A Malik (Ind); R Lee (Can); N Fung (Mas); T Linard (Fra); J Scrivener (Aus); S Jamieson (Sco); M Kumar (Ind); J Hansen (Den); C Pigem (Esp); K Horne (RSA); T Chuayprakong (Tha); M Southgate (Eng); H Gupta (Ind); G Singh (Ind); O Fisher (Eng); R McGowan (Eng); C Kumar (Ind);
74 A Chadha (Ind); J Fahrbring (Swe); P Pittayarat (Tha); E De La Riva (Esp); R Dinwiddie (Eng); B Virto Astudillo (Esp); F Ali (Ind); P Dunne (Irl); C S (Ind); C Muniyappa (Ind); M Fraser (Aus); B Åkesson (Swe);
75 E España (Fra); H Rai (Ind); W Lin (Tpe); M Ford (Eng); S Brazel (Aus); M Kawamura (Jpn); M Siem (Ger); A McArthur (Sco); C Lee (Tpe); M Warren (Sco); P Singh (am) (Ind);
76 R Kakko (Fin); J Knutzon (USA); A Sandhu (Ind); V Kumar (Ind); J Singh (am) (Ind);
77 S Singh (Ind); N Srithong (Tha); S Lewton (Eng); J Luiten (Ned); G Bhullar (Ind); M Baldwin (Eng); D Boonma (Tha); J Colomo (Esp); Y Chandra (am) (Ind);
78 R Davies (Wal); J McLeary (Sco); S Norris (RSA); E Molinari (Ita); D Kullar (Ind);
79 S Manley (Wal); D Chopra (Swe); C Hung (Tpe); L Slattery (Eng);
80 P Marksaeng (Tha); J Winther (Den); R Bajaj (Ind); S Adi (am) (Ind);
81 J Busby (Eng);
84 D Gleeson (Aus);
