Rio Grande, Feb 21: Anirban Lahiri played steady and gave himself a lot of chances, but the putts did not fall as he compiled a two-under 70 in the opening round of the PGA TOUR’s Puerto Rico Open being played as an alternate event in the week of the WGC-Mexico.
Lahiri, looking for a good finish to boost his confidence, opened with a bogey, but did not drop any shots thereafter at Coco Beach Golf & Country Club. He birdied fourth, fifth and the closing Par-5 18thfor his 70 that placed him T-31. Lahiri had 12 straight pars between sixth and 17th.
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Video – Anirban Lahiri birdies 18th
Lahiri is six shots behind the leader, Kyle Stanley who shot an 8-under 64 in windy afternoon conditions.
Daniel Chopra after being three-under after first five holes had one more birdie and one bogey for three-under 69, while Arjun Atwal (73) was T-81st.
Stanley holds a two-stroke lead after getting hot with the putter. The two-time PGA TOUR winner had four birdies in first five holes and then four in a row from ninth to 12th. Overall he had nine birdies against one bogey.
Six players Peter Uihlein, Josh Teater, Emiliano Grillo, Chris Couch, Henrik Norlander and Rhein Gibson shot 66, and 2013 winner Scott Brown, Martin Laird, Jay McLuen, MJ Daffue, Wes Roach and Julian Etulain followed at 67.
Defending champion Martin Trainer opened with a 74. He played a five-hole stretch on his opening nine in 5 over with three bogeys and a double bogey,
Stanley had nine birdies and a bogey in windy afternoon conditions at Coco Beach Golf & Country Club. It equalled Stanley’s career-high as he makes a bid for third career PGA TOUR title.
Peter Uihlein (66) made seven birdies against one bogey as he comes off four missed cuts in his last five PGA TOUR starts
First-Round Leaderboard
Kyle Stanley 64 (-8)
Peter Uihlein 66 (-6)
Josh Teater 66 (-6)
Emiliano Grillo 66 (-6)
Chris Couch 66 (-6)
Henrik Norlander 66 (-6)
Rhein Gibson 66 (-6)