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India’s Anirban Lahiri came perilously close to missing out on the halfway cut, but prevailed to make it right on the mark on Friday.
Heading into the last hole at the second round of the Augusta National, Lahiri needed to save par in order to settle for a three-over-par 75 which assures his passage through to the weekend rounds with a two-over-par 146. Lahiri ended the second round tied 50th.
Jordan Spieth, meanwhile, continued to dominate the event, consolidating his position at the top of the leaderboard. On Friday, Spieth carded a six-under-par 66 and leads by 14 strokes. Tiger Woods ended the second round tied 19th along with World Number one Rory McIlroy.
Lahiri’s progress in the second round stood in stark contrast to his robust performance on Thursday, when he carded a one-under-71. His score for Friday read one eagle, two birdies, five bogeys and two double bogeys.
"I got off to a terrible start. I didn't execute my plan at all. Obviously I was not able to focus as well as I would have liked. I think that also kind of happened because I got wrong footed with a few bogeys early on," said Lahiri.
Lahiri, although impressed with the manner in which he fought back to make the cut, was unhappy with his failure to execute his plans. "I think I fought back well, but I just hit so many loose shots. It was disappointing to drop so many shots. But I'm happy that I managed to make it through to the weekend”, he added.
On an optimistic note, Lahiri said that, despite his below par showing on Friday, there was still plenty to look forward to in the weekend. "You want to play well in the majors. But you can't play well in them if you don't play four days. So, you know, I've given myself that opportunity now. If I have a good weekend I can definitely move up.”
The 27-year old Lahiri would like to put his disappointing performance on Friday behind him as he heads into the weekend, where he will, no doubt, seek to make amends.
