Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri started well, only to give away shots on the back nine to end up with a modest even-par 72 and lie tied 73rd after the first round of the Safeway Open here.
Anirban Lahiri chipped in once from 45 feet, made a couple of 17-footer for birdies, but missed three — one each from inside four feet, six feet and eight feet — for three costly shots. Anirban Lahiri, who has made one cut and missed one in two starts in the new 2019-20 season, hit 12 of 18 greens but was not able to convert many of the chances that came his way.
Three PGA Tour winners, two of them major champions, and a PGA TOUR rookie occupy the top four spots on the leaderboard. Adam Scott fired his lowest opening-round score on the Tour since 2014 to take a share of the lead with Andrew Landry. They are tied at seven-under, while Francesco Molinari and Matthew NeSmith are tied for third at six-under. Adam Long, Cameron Champ, and Chris Baker are tied for fifth at five-under.
Starting from the back nine, Lahiri birdied the 10th when he chipped in from 45 feet in the rough for a great start. However, he gave away shots on 11th and 12th, the latter from just over five feet. He made two great birdies from 17 feet and more on 14th and 16th and had another birdie on 17th. On the second nine, he missed from inside four feet for bogey on second. He also dropped shots on third and seventh, but closed with a birdie on ninth, two-putting from over 40 feet.
Scott, 39, has not played since Tour Championships. He spent time with wife and two kids before scrambling out of the Bahamas ahead of Hurricane Dorian. Scott had six birdies and an eagle and it included a 53-foot eagle on fifth. Landry teed off four-and-a-half hours later and played bogey-free. Former NFL quarterback and current CBS analyst Tony Romo opened with a 70.
Playing on a sponsor exemption, Romo, if he makes the cut, will skip Sunday’s NFL broadcast in Chicago between the Bears and Minnesota Vikings. The 36-hole cut for the 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season is 65 players and ties and not 70 and ties.
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