Anirban Lahiri, Arjun Atwal make the cut at Corales Championship golf
In spite of contrasting performances, Lahiri and Atwal share identical three-under par scores after two rounds at the Corales Golf Club.
Indian golfers Anirban Lahiri and Arjun Atwal made the cut for the weekend at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on Friday.
At the Corales Golf Club, Anirban Lahiri rode on his opening round brilliance as he made the cut despite an even-par show in the second with an aggregate score of three-under 141 (69, 72).
Meanwhile, Arjun Atwal carded a fine four-under 68 on Friday also for an aggregate score of three-under 141 (73, 68).
The two Indian golfers, grouped together for the two rounds, were placed tied-54th when they made the cut.
American Hudson Swafford leads the pack heading into the third round with a two-shot lead over his fellow countrymen Shane O’Hair, Justin Suh and Luke List.
After a creditable show at the Safeway Open Championship last week, Rio 2016 Olympian Anirban Lahiri hoped to carry the momentum in the PGA Tour.
Lahiri staged a fightback in the first round - he carded an eagle to counter his bogeys early on and then scored four birdies on the back nine - to manage a three-under 69.
However, the 33-year-old Lahiri had a topsy-turvy performance in the second round - with four bogeys and four birdies - that saw him with an even-par card.
Arjun Atwal, however, faced no such troubles in the second round as he managed a bogey-free front nine laced with three birdies. He did bogey - on the 13th - but it came on either side of birdies on 11th and 16th.
“I have not played since Wyndham, which was some six weeks ago. In this period I chilled with the family, wife and the kids,” Atwal told PTI. “Maybe the front nine took off my rust in the first round.
“I think I had only one bogey in the last 27 holes. It is important to get some birdies out here, so I am going to attack over the weekend,” he added.
At the top, Swafford didn’t let a hornet sting early in the day deter him from carding five-under 67 in the second round.
“It started swelling up, so I was just kind of rubbing ice on it after tee shots for the first five, six holes on the back side,” Swafford told the PGA Tour about his Friday’s performance.
“I guess it kind of cleared my mind of the golf thing and just let me focus on something else.”
Where to watch Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship live
Golf fans in India can catch the live action from the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship on Eurosport and Eurosport HD from 12:30 AM (Sunday).