Anirban Lahiri failed to make the halfway cut at the PGA Championship as he scored a second consecutive three-over 73 at the Baltusrol Golf Club here. The 29-year-old, who was tied 107th after the first round, on Friday took his total of six-over 146 while the weekend cut was decided at two-over 142.
Lahiri got off to a poor start by getting bogeys on the par-four holes of first and third.
The World No. 64 then made par efforts on the rest of the holes till the 11th hole, which he again bogeyed. Another bogey on the following hole made it four bogeys for the day and Lahiri needed to recover with a couple of birdies. He did find one on the concluding, par-four 18th hole, but it was just not enough.
Last year at the PGA Championship, Lahiri had finished tied fifth, becoming India’s best ever performer at a major golf championship.
Tough year
The Bengaluru golfer underwent a tough year as far as his performance at the majors is concerned. He finished tied 42nd in the Masters Championship before missing the cut at the US Open. Then at the British Open, he was tied 68th. And his performance here just extended the frustration before the Rio Olympics starting on August 5.
Meanwhile, American Jimmy Walker posted a second consecutive strong round, but countryman Robert Streb shot a remarkable seven-under 63 to grab a share of the lead at the halfway point of the tournament, reports Efe . The 37-year-old Walker, who shot a 65 on Thursday, backed it up with a 66 in the second round of the final major on the 2016 calendar.
Streb, however, joined him at the top of the leaderboard at nine-under 131 by shooting the low round of the tournament thus far, with eight birdies. His lone slip-up was a bogey on the par-three 16th hole. The two-day leading total of 131 ties the PGA Championship record for the low first 36 holes.
“(I’m going to) try to do the same things we’re been doing the last couple of days and hopefully, it’s good enough,” Streb told pgatour.com .
Australian world No.1 and defending champion Jason Day, meanwhile, started his round on Friday at two-under and then put himself in an excellent position at the halfway point of the tournament by firing a 65. Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo continued his strong play and is in a tie for second with Day at seven-under 133 after shooting a 67 on Friday.
American world No.3 Jordan Spieth also shot 67 on Friday to move to three-under 137 for the tournament, but countryman and world No. 2 Dustin Johnson missed the cut after following up his horrific seven-over 77 on Thursday with a 72. Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, winner of the British Open earlier this month, is alone in fifth place at six-under 134.
Among the big names, who missed the cut were Rory McIlroy, Y.E. Yang, Vijay Singh, David Toms, John Daly, Graeme McDowell, Shaun Micheel and European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke.
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