Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri turned in a creditable three-under 69 to be placed tied 16th after the first round of the Hotel Fitness Championships in the Web.Com Finals series here.
The 28-year-old Lahiri, buoyed by an automatic selection to the International Team for the President's Cup next month, had five birdies against two bogeys, both of which were three-putts.
Lahiri, who in the morning session was as high as tied third at one stage, was in the end, three shots behind joint leaders, American Tommy Gainey and Argentine Emiliano Grillo, who shot 66 each.
Seven players including Ricky Barnes shot 67 each, while another six carded four-under 68 each on an excellent day for scoring.
Lahiri, winner of the Malaysian Open and Hero Indian Open -- events jointly sanctioned by European and Asian Tours, found 16 of the 18 greens in regulation, but missed half of the fairways from the tee. He finished the day with seven straight pars.
"I think I hit it decent but I wasn't very good off the tee. Any other day I would have said driver would be my best club but it would be the 14th club in the bag today. I was all over the place," Lahiri said.
Lahiri hit some good iron shots but couldn't get the putts to drop. "It was slightly frustrating on the back nine," he said.
"I didn't make anything long or crazy. I did make a 25-footer on number 11 and that was nice, but that was the end of the movie."
This is the first tournament in the Web.Com Tour Finals, a series of four events that will conclude at the Web.Com Tour Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Twenty-five PGA Tour cards are up for grabs during the four Finals events, as well as positioning for all 50 cards, of which 25 were awarded two weeks ago at the end of the regular schedule.
The two blemishes on Lahiri's cards were bogeys on the first and seventh hole, both a result of three-putts after duly getting to the greens in regulation.
Lahiri, who has committed himself to playing only the first three events in the Finals Series, started with a three-putt bogey on the first hole. But back-to-back birdies on the next two holes quickly brought him under-par.
