Lahiri finishes T-39 as Grace grabs win for his father in Puerto Rico

Rio Grande (Puerto Rico), March 1

Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri carded 2-under 70—his fourth straight under par—in the final round to finish tied-39th at the Puerto Rico Open here.

Lahiri ended with a total of 6-under 282.

Lahiri, starting from the 10th, dropped bogeys on 13th and 16th, but had back-to-back birdies on 17th and 18th. The birdie on 18th made up for the bogey on the third day at the same hole.

On the second nine, he had gains on second and fifth and parred the rest.

The tied-39th place was, however, far from satisfactory for the Indian playing his seventh season on the PGA Tour.

“It was not the kind of a week I was looking for, but I do take some positives and hopefully the next start will go off better,” said Lahiri.

South African Branden Grace stayed focused despite the amazing scenery at the Grand Reserve Country Club and closed with a bogey free 6-under 66 in the wind.

Grace’s eagle-birdie finish gave him a 19-under 269 total and his second PGA Tour victory, his first since the 2016 RBC Heritage.

Grace was tied for the lead at 18-under when he teed off from the par-5 18th. He reached a front bunker in two and then a super shot saw him come to five feet for a birdie finish as he beat Jhonattan Vegas by a shot.

Vegas  finished strongly with 65 for second while local star Rafael Campos shot 70 and tied for third with Grayson Murray, three shots back.

It was an emotional win for Grace, 32, who lost his father, Peter, last month in South Africa to COVID-19 complications.

The win has put Grace back in the picture for another Presidents Cup berth and that would be a perfect reward as he missed making it last time.

Grace’s win also gets him into the 2021 Players Championship, the PGA Championship, select invitational events such as the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions, and makes him exempt through 2022-23. PTI