Impressive Lahiri cards 67 to lie Tied sixth

Anirban Lahiri got his putter working and carded a superb three-under 67 to lie Tied-sixth after the first round of the Honda Classic golf tournament here.

The Indian ace, playing his fourth successive season on the PGA Tour, holed everything inside 10 feet and also converted some big putts at the PGA National here.

He hit 11 of 18 greens in regulation and seemed more comfortable than he has been all season on the greens.

Lahiri had seven birdies, which was the equal best for the first round. He also birdied two of three holes in the stretch called 'The Bear's Trap' on Thursday.

The Bear's Trap is the stretch 15-16-17 and Lahiri birdied 15th and 16th with lengthy putts. His big blemish of the day was a trip into the water on the Par-4 436-yard 11th hole which cost him a double bogey.

Lahiri hit his irons well to come inside 10 feet often and holed them all. In addition he had some big putts on third (21 feet), 15th (25 feet), 16th (17 feet) and 18th (31 feet).

In between he had some misses with chances with putts between 10 and 15 feet. Overall, it showed a welcome return to form with the putter.

Lahiri is three shots behind leader Jhonattan Vegas (64), while Ernie Els, the captain of the President's Cup team this year, carded four-under 66 to be tied second alongside Ben Silverman, Zach Johnson and Lucas Glover.

Chikka makes cut

Indian trio of Shiv Kapur, S Chikkarangappa and Ajeetesh Sandhu made the cut at the 100th New Zealand Open golf tournament on Friday, reports PTI from Queenstown.

Kapur shot two-under 69 at the Par-71 Millbrook Resort course after a two-under 70 at the Hills Course on Thursday, while Chikka shot three-under 69 at Par-72 Hills Course after one-under 70 at Millbrook Resort course. Both had totals of 139.

Sandhu, who was three-under 69 at Hills on Thursday, shot even par 71 at Milbrook in second round for a total of 140 to lie Tied-44th.

The cut fell at three-under and 62 players made it.

Three Indians, Rahil Gangjee (142), Khalin Joshi (142) and Viraj Madappa (147) missed the cut.

Asian Tour Qualifying school graduate Zach Murray continued his solid form by signing for a seven-under-par 65 at The Hills to seize the outright lead by five shots at the halfway stage.

Diksha best Indian

Young golfer Diksha Dagar fired four birdies in the last seven holes to card a highly creditable one-under 70 to lie tied 29th after the opening round of the ActewAGL Canberra Classic on Friday in Canberra.

Dagar, who represented India at the 2018 Asian Games and is a medallist from the 2017 Summer Deaflympics, turned pro only this year, though she has won a pro title while being an amateur in India.

Vani Kapoor finished birdie-birdie in her round of 72 and was Tied-55th, while Amandeep Drall shot 73 and was T-68th.

American Amelia Lewis shot a flawless six-under par round of 65 in the morning wave to lead the chasing pack.