Scottsdale, Arizona, Feb 11: It was a sedate start for Anirban Lahiri as he came back with one-under 70 in the opening round of the US$8.2 million Waste Management Phoenix Open. Lahiri’s 70 placed him T-44 in the unfinished first round, which was suspended due to darkness.
However, Indian – American Sahith Theegala, who has often expressed a desire to play in India, the country of his origin, was in stunning form as he was 7-under through 16 holes after starting from the 10th. Theegala, a much decorated collegiate golfer, faces a clutch 16-footer for par on 8th, his 17th hole when he returns on the second day.
Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, Theegala is the provisional leader at 7-under, as Korea’s K.H. Lee fired a super 6-under 65 for the first round clubhouse lead on Thursday.
Lahiri, starting from 10th, birdied the 13th from just over 10 feet and then dropped a shot on 16th. He turned in one-under following a birdie on 18th with a nine-foot birdie putt. On his second nine, Lahiri took a drop in left rough and
Then missed a 10-footer for par on Par-4 first. On the Par-5 third, Lahiri reached the green in two and had a 21-footer for an eagle. He managed a tap-in birdie and finished the day with six straight pars for 70.
Theegala was thrilled to be there in the first place as a sponsor’s exemption. Asked what would he have been doing, if he had not got the exemption, he said, “Rest. I wasn’t even going to do the Monday (qualifier) because I played four weeks in a row. And it’s probably the first time in my life that I played five weeks in a row, but I’ve been pretty good the last couple weeks of taking a day or two off here and there and not grinding too much on the practice stuff.
“It (getting the exemption) was really big. I found out Sunday at Farmers and I was obviously really excited because I knew the history of the tournament and obviously super strong field, probably the strongest field I played in so far this year, and I just figured it was like another free roll opportunity, might as well take advantage of it and obviously super thankful that I got in.”
Title holder Brooks Koepka is amongst those who opened with a 66 while World No. 1 Jon Rahm and Olympic Games gold medallist Xander Schauffele shot 67s. Two-time WM Phoenix Open champion and FedExCup points leader, Hideki Matsuyama carded with a 68 despite making three successive bogeys early on.