Lahiri makes a strong start at Phoenix Open

Scottsdale (USA), Feb 5 

Anirban Lahiri got off to a strong start with a five-under 66, one shot off the leaders at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He was tied-fourth and one stroke behind the leading trio of Rickie Fowler, Shane Lowery and last year's co-runner-up Hideki Matsuyama, who carded 65 each.

Lahiri spent a session with putting guru Dave Stockton on Wednesday and immediately reaped benefits from it. He was perfect inside 10 feet and made seven birdies. “I was a bit cluttered and needed to get a more systematic process to follow. I'm not very technical by nature. I like to visualise and feel the shots and that's not how I putted before,” Lahiri said.

Stockton told him to 'simplify' the process and it worked. Lahiri started on the tenth and, after an opening par, flourished with three birdies in a row from the 11th to 13th.  And then after a dropped shot on the 15th, he picked two more birdies on the 16th and the 17th to turn in four-under.

On his second nine, the back stretch of the TPC Scottsdale, he bogeyed the first but picked birdies on the third and sixth and negotiated the rest in pars for a first day's work of five-under 66 at the par-71 course. — PTI