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Anirban Lahiri began his Augusta Masters campaign on a positive note with a one-under 71, ending the first day tied for the 18th spot along World Number one Rory McIlroy and ahead of Tiger Woods.
21-year old Jordan Spieth topped the leaderboard at the close of Day 1 with a score of eight-under par, 64. Incidentally, Indian ace golfer Jeev Milkha Singh has backed Spieth to emerge victor at the Augusta Masters.
Lahiri, after beginning with a flurry of seven pars found his first Masters birdie on the eighth hole and a second one on the 16th.
His 71 strokes took him on par with Jeev Milkha Singh for the best Masters round for an Indian golfer. Along with Danny Willett, who carded the same score earlier in the day, Lahiri emerged as the best rookie at the event.
Although not entirely discontented with his performance, Lahiri, however, did opine that he could have done better. "I thought it was quite alright, though it could have been a bit better. Yet for the first round I will take and work on the second round. A good start always puts one in a great mood and so it is," said Lahiri.
Lahiri displayed great composure as he opened with a 280-yard drive to the edge of the fairway bunker and getting his par putt down from six feet.On the second hole, Lahiri had a slight trouble as he drove into the pine needles before going to the first cut on the right. The second par putt was a tense nine-footer, which he got to from about 80 feet. This was subsequently followed by five more pars.
On the eighth hole, Lahiri struck a fine drive, 285 yards to the left of the fairway bunker and his second shot landed 40 yards from the flag. His pitch put him a mere three feet from the flag for a birdie.
The only glitch on an otherwise impressive day for Lahiri came on the ninth hole when he missed a five-footer for par. On the par-3 17th, Lahiri holed a 20-fotter for a birdie, which brought him under par again where he closed. Lahiri, however, is of the opinion, that he may have missed out on a couple of birdies.
