Lahiri, Sharma play in the morning session at WGC; Woods is in the field

Press Trust of India  |  Akron (Ohio) 

Indian Lahiri will tee off at the same time as but from a different end of the Firestone South course at the WGC-Invitational, here tomorrow.

Also playing in the morning session will be Shubhankar Sharma as two Indians will play the event for the first time. Sharma plays the first round with from first tee at 9.30 am.

This is an important event for both as they seek to move forward on various fronts. Lahiri is trying to get back to top-50, while Sharma is trying to gain a card.

Meanwhile Woods, who has won this event eight times, including the first three times of this event's history.

Woods got into top-50 in the nick of time after recording his best finish since 2013 by getting to tied 6th at the Open at Carnoustie.

That year he was also tied 4th at and tied 6th at the Open. Woods last played at a WGC in this very tournament in 2014 but pulled out before completing it.

Among the favourites is World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, fresh of his third win of the season. Johnson returns to Firestone for a final time having won here in 2016.

Fellow past champion Rory McIlroy, who like Woods was T-6 at two weeks ago, has one win and three runners-up finishes this year. Both McIlroy and Woods can be lethal at this course.

The (South) is a 7,400-yard par 70, which has been a signature stop on the for five decades and the last of the original WGC venues.

The event will not be hosted by Firestone any longer starting in 2019 when it heads to Last year, captured his fifth win here last year, climbing to third in the world.

This year and disappointing play have pulled Matsuyama down to 16th in the world with just one top-10 finish in 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Wed, August 01 2018. 16:35 IST