Troon: India’s Anirban Lahiri began his British Open campaign with a solid two-under-par 69 but was left to rue a host of missed opportunities on the opening day at Royal Troon.
The 29-year-old, who played alongside Keegan Bradley of the United States and Spain’s Sergio Garcia, carded three birdies and a bogey over his first seven holes on Thursday but failed to carry the momentum forward after the turn.
“I think I played pretty good but left a few opportunities out there on the back nine,” Lahiri said in an Asian Tour statement.
“It was a good day to score, the wind died down. I had a few good looks but didn’t convert. I’m a bit disappointed with not shooting a couple under on the back nine but I’m quite happy with the way I played.” Lahiri, who is making his fourth Open appearance, said his putter let him down.
“I had a lot of looks from 25 feet and a couple from inside 10 feet. Made good strokes but didn’t find the bottom of the cup.
“I found a lot of fairways especially on a lot of the tighter holes and found a lot of greens. That’s a good sign hopefully.
“I focused pretty well. When you’re coming home, you can’t afford to get frustrated. If you do that, you try to push too hard, the course can bite you.
“I was expecting the winds to pick up and with the sunshine all day, I thought the greens would get a little firmer but they didn’t.” American Phil Mickelson leads the Open after an eight-under-par 63 on the opening day.
Meanwhile, Soren Kjeldsen again showed he is one of those golfers who thrives when the weather is grotty and wet as he ignored miserable conditions to power to a three-under 68 in the British Open second round on Friday.
The 41-year-old Dane played flawlessly despite driving rain on the west coast of Scotland and winds gusting up to 15mph.
“These conditions are what I grew up in,” Kjeldsen told reporters at Royal Troon. “I’m certainly used to playing in bad weather.
“You don’t stay inside because you would miss too many days. I like playing this kind of golf, I like the battling mentality that you need.” Kjeldsen has won four times on the European Tour, his most recent victory coming in extremely windy conditions at the 2015 Irish Open.
“I think what helped us a little bit today was that we played the front nine, even though we played it into the wind, we played it in decent conditions,” he said.
“I got into a nice rhythm and when the bad weather came I was already in a nice rhythm. From then on I just sort of held on.” Kjeldsen wore a smile as wide as the nearby Firth of Clyde after coaxing in a long, curling putt for his third birdie of the day at the par-three 17th.
The Dane told Reuters in an interview held after his opening 67 on Thursday that he felt his game was back on track after a difficult spell in June.
“The last 18 months were really good and then I played poorly at last month’s US. Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio,” he said.
“But I turned the corner at the Scottish Open last week and now I’m feeling pretty good,” added Kjeldsen referring to closing rounds of 66 and 70 that earned a tie for 21st place in Inverness.
“I’ve worked harder over the last two years than I’ve ever worked before and it’s nice that it’s paying off. I feel really happy with everything now and the sky’s the limit.”
