Lahiri gives away initial gains lie T-26th at Bermuda Championships

Southampton (Bermuda), October 30

Three bogeys on the back nine spoilt Anirban Lahiri's opening-day card at the Bermuda Championship as the ace Indian golfer had to settle for a 3-under 68 that placed him tied-26th.

Lahiri was 5-under through the first 10 holes but finished the last seven holes in 2-over at the Port Royal.

He had started with a 66 on the same course last year and had a chance to better the score but for the terrible back nine.

Lahiri started birdie-birdie before dropping a shot on the 4th. He quickly steadied himself and birdied 5th, 6th and 9th to turn in 4-under.

A birdie on 10th made it 5-under. He suffered back-to-back bogeys on 12th and 13th but did get one back on the 17th, only to drop a shot on the 18th.

"It's a disappointing finish to the first round considering the start I got," said Lahiri.

Meanwhile, Arjun Atwal began with a birdie and then had to wait till the 18th for his only other birdie. In between he dropped a double bogey and four other bogeys for a disappointing 4-over 75, leaving him to do a lot of work to stay on for the weekend.

Peter Malnati, who saw his infant son at a PGA TOUR event for the first time since the pandemic, shot a round of 8-under 63 for a one-shot lead over Ryan Armour and Doug Ghim, who birdied his last two holes.

The Bermuda Championship, which has allowed 500 spectators  a day as the PGA Tour threw the event open for fans for the first time since the PLAYERS, has been upgraded to full status, which means 500 Fedex Points and an invitation to the Masters Tournament next year.

Till last year, the Bermuda Championship was held in the same week as the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, which was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic this year.

Three players Doc Redman, Vaughn Taylor and Chase Seiffert were at 65.

Three-time major champion and Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington opened with a 67 while Fred Funk, the 64-year-old regular on the PGA Tour Champions, shot a 69 as he played in the same group as his son, Taylor Funk, who shot a 73.

The Bermuda Championship also heralds the start of consecutive PGA Tour events allowing limited fans. The Houston Open has said it would sell no more than 2,000 tickets a day.

The Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, the first event of 2021, also announced this week it would have limited fans. PTI