Genesis Open 2018: Lahiri at T-63rd, so is Tiger Woods

Lahiri shot one-over 72 at the Par-71 at the firm Riviera course and was T-63.

Anirban Lahiri was one-under for first nine holes with the solitary birdie. (File Photo)

Anirban Lahiri gave away his hard-earned gains in matter of three holes to put himself in the danger zone at the end of the first round of the Genesis Open. He shot one-over 72 at the Par-71 at the firm Riviera course and was T-63.

Lahiri, starting on the tenth, was one-under for first nine holes with the solitary birdie, and he added a second on first hole, his 10th of the day. Three pars followed before he went into the rough and struggled and then missed a seven-footer for a bogey.

That double was followed by another trip to the native area that cost him another shot. From two-under after 14, he ended being one-over after 16 and that’s where he finished. Twelve players did not finish the round before darkness.

READ: Johnson struggles as Cantlay, Finau lead in California

Patrick Cantlay, once the No. 1 amateur in the world, birdied all the par 5s and played smartly the rest of the way around a firm Riviera course for a 5-under 66 to share the lead with Tony Finau. Starting with four birdies in five holes Finau finished with one last birdie for his 66 and a share of the lead.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods lost a tee shot in a eucalyptus tree and made double bogey as part of a ragged start and then holed in some crucial putts for a 72.

A huge crowd followed Woods but even they were not able to help locate his tee shot on the par-5 11th hole, which was possibly lost in the tree.

Woods played with Justin Thomas (69) and Rory McIlroy (71). Expectedly, they had the largest gallery of the day, most of them to see Woods, 42, who had not played at Riviera since 2006.

Woods struggled with his driver off the tee early on, hitting several wayward shots although he ended up hitting 8 of 14 fairways. He hit just 7 of 18 greens.

Returning from his fourth back surgery, Woods’ game was not as sharp as it once was, but he seems to be moving in the right direction. He made five birdies despite hitting only seven greens in regulation as he recovered from being 2-over after three holes.

“I’m not that far off to really putting some good numbers out there. I’ve got to clean up my card, too many bogeys out there. If I can just clean that up, I can start making my way up the board,” Woods said.

Cantlay played with Jordan Spieth (71) and Kevin Chappell (69), and as they finished in the twilight, the crowd had thinned considerably. They missed a clean round by Cantlay, whose only bogey came on the par-3 fourth hole when he came up short of the green and missed a 10-foot putt.

Defending champion Dustin Johnson also got off to a rough start, particularly on No. 5. He played his third shot from ankle-high grass and it flew over the green. His chip came back down the slope and the World No. 1 walked off with a triple bogey and carded 74.