Lahiri, Shubhankar blown away by blustery winds in Texas
San Antonio (US), Apr 20 (PTI) Blustery winds took a toll of Indian duo of Subhankar Sharma and Anirban Lahiri as they returned with disappointing cards of 76 each in the opening round of the Valero Texas Open here.
The two Indians playing together for the first time in a PGA Tour event were way behind after shooting four-over 76 each. They both need very strong second rounds to have a chance of making the cut.
The strong gusts of wind made scoring very difficult in the morning wave and when it died in the afternoon the scoring improved slightly on the AT&T Oaks Course at the TPC San Antonio.
Lahiri, who began on the 10th, had just one birdie. He bogeyed 12th and 16th and in between birdied 14th. On his second nine, he bogeyed sixth and double bogeyed the Par-5 eighth with a three-putt from 11 feet.
In fact, Lahiri missed at least eight putts from 10-11 feet or inside.
Sharma also had a very rough beginning as he bogeyed three times in his first nine holes, starting from the tenth.
He bogeyed the 14th, 15th and 17th and turned in 3-over. A nightmarish triple bogey on Par-4 first made that 6-over and yet another bogey on third meant he was 7-over through 12 holes.
Yet, the 21-year-old refusing to give up had three birdies in next four holes to make it 4-over, but it was still way off, where he may have wanted.
Grayson Murray coming off a missed cut at the RBC Heritage last week, made seven birdies for a 5-under 67 and a one-shot lead. His only mistake was a double bogey from a greenside bunker on the par-3 seventh hole.
Of the five players at 68, only Chesson Hadley played in the morning side of the draw, and he called it among his best rounds of the year because of gusts.
Keegan Bradley, Ryan Moore, Billy Horschel and Matt Atkins each posted 68. Horschel and Moore played bogey-free.
Sergio Garcia shot 74, while Adam Scott failed to make a birdie in his 75. Scott is at No. 59 in the Official World Golf Ranking and needs to stay in the top 60 by May 21 to be exempted for the U.S. Open.
Only 34 players in the 156-man field managed to break par