Lahiri off to a fine start with 69, lies 17th at Sanderson Farms on PGA
Jackson (Mississippi): Anirban Lahiri got off a to fine start with a three-under 69 and was tied 17th after the first round of the Sanderson Farms Golf Championship.
Lahiri hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation during his first round while compatriot Arjun Atwal was even par through the five holes, when proceedings were called off due to inclement weather.
Tom Hoge was leading at eight-under, while Robert Streb, Cameron Percy and Seamus Power shot seven-under 65 each to be tied second.
Zac Blair, Zach Johnson, Cameron Percy, Emiliano Grillo, and Seamus Power are currently tied for fifth place at five-under.
There are six players at 67 and they included Emilian Grillo, Zach Johnson and Byeong Hun An.
After a drive to the left rough on the 554-yard par-5 on 11th hole, Lahiri hit an approach shot from 89 yards to 6 feet, setting himself up for the birdie on the hole to move to one-under for the round.
He added a second birdie on 13th and then on the 330-yard par-4 15th hole, Lahiri reached the green in two and sunk a 7-foot putt for birdie to get to three-under for the round.
He turned in three-under, but dropped shots on Par-5 sixth but got back that shot on the 612-yard par-5 fifth, where he drove 321 yards.
Lahiri chipped his third shot to two feet, which he rolled for one-putt birdie on the hole to get back to 3-under for the round.
He had a bogey on the sixth hole, where he missed a par putt from four feet, but yet again on the 403-yard par-4 eighth hole.
Lahiri also had a 142 yard approach shot and he played it well for a birdie and finished at three-under for the round.
Chopra hit 10 of 18 greens in regulation during his first round finishing at 3 under for the tournament. Chopra finished his round tied for 17th. He had three birdies and an eagle on Par-4 15th, but also dropped shots on first and sixth,
Among the big names trying to find their form early is Johnson, who has not had a top-10 in this calendar year and missed the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time since they started in 2007. Johnson missed the cut in last week's A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier.
