Solid second round for Lahiri sees him rise to T-11 at Travelers

Anirban Lahiri produced another solid round of 3-under 67 to position himself at Tied-11, three behind a trio of leaders, at the midway stage of the Traveler's Championship, here.

The 30-year-old Indian ace, still looking for his breakthrough win on the PGA Tour, is now 6-under 134 after 36 holes.

Lahiri, whose last win came in February 2015 at Hero Indian Open, had four birdies against one bogey. He hit better on the first day than the second, when the conditions were easier but the pin positions were tougher at the TPC River Highlands.

Brian Harman, who was third in 2015, shot a 4-under 66 to go with his first round 64 to take a share of the three-way lead with Russell Henley (65-66) and first round co-leader, Zach Johnson (63-68) at nine-under 131.

 

I have generally hit it good the last two days, pretty solid, though I didn't drive it as well today. Yesterday, when I drove really well. But today I didn't hit it as close as I would have liked to, so there is some work to do with the wedges, Lahiri said.

Having played here last year (Lahiri was in Top-20 in 2017) I have got my strategy in place, much better than last year. I like this course and it fits my eye. So, hopefully I can a little better over the weekend.

Talking of the course, he added, This course demands accuracy and if you can produce that, you can make a few birdies. It's all about position play. Yesterday I played well in difficult conditions, as the greens dried up in the afternoon. Today the conditions were easier, but pin positions were tougher, something that I didn't see last year.

Finally, on what he plans for the weekend, he said, If I can get my approach play a little better, this is the kind of a course, where you can get a bunch of birdies when you are comfortable with the conditions. The putting was a bit better but the speed was a little off. I am going to work on that now. On this course, if you roll in a few, you go real low.

Lahiri got his first birdie when he holed a 7-footer on fourth and a second one came his way on Par-5 sixth, when he hit a nice second shot from 93 yards to seven feet and rolled it in.

On the seventh, he went into right rough and did not come out too well. He had a 23-footer for par, which he missed and had his only bogey of the day. He had two more birdies on 13th and 16th to make it 3-under 67. He had quite a few 15-20 footers, which did not roll in.

First-round co-leader Johnson birded his final hole to shoot 2-under 68, while defending champion Jordan Spieth eagled the par-5 sixth hole, but posted a 3-over 73. US Open champion Brooks Koepka followed a 2-under 68 in round one with a 69 Friday to be seven strokes back heading into the weekend.

With his 7-under 63 in round two, 2010 and 2015 Travelers Championship winner Bubba Watson moved from T-77 to T-08.

Rory McIlroy (-7) at T-8 hit 31 of 36 greens in regulation through 36 holes. Spieth took a triple-bogey eight at the 13th hole, his fourth hole of the day, en route to a 3-over 73.

The weather was mostly cloudy and the scoring was high as the cut fell at 2-under 138 with 74 players making the cut from a field of 156 professionals.