Lahiri tees off, beats Palmer for maiden win in WGC Match Play

san fransisco, Anirban Lahiri indicated he’s ready to make his presence felt at the highest level as he made a sensational debut at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play, beating higher-ranked Ryan Palmer of the US comprehensively for a 4&2 win in Group 6.
Lahiri, ranked No. 35 in the world, a seven-time winner on the Asian Tour and twice on the European Tour, started and closed well and had six birdies against no bogeys in his 16 holes to bolster his matchplay credentials.
“I played really good,” said Lahiri. “It was a really solid round. I don’t think Ryan played poorly either. I think it was a really good match. It was massive for me to birdie 13, and then chip in on the 14th to keep myself three ahead.” As per the new format, 64 players have been divided into 16 groups of four each. Each player plays the other three and the winner of the group proceeds to Last 16. Lahiri was happy with the fact that he did not bogey.
Talking of matchplay format, Lahiri added, “I think I do pretty well in matchplay. I was just talking to my caddie about it and there’s no letting up. You have to be kind of in the zone right through. And you can’t plateau in your focus; you’ve got to be really intense. And I think I like playing golf that way. So hopefully I can keep that up.”
Lahiri, who has won twice in co-sanctioned events in Maybank Malaysian Open and Hero Indian Open, won the par-5 first hole with a birdie and increased his lead with another birdie on the fourth. Palmer took the fifth and eighth with birdies to restore parity.
In between both birdied the sixth to halve the hole. Then Lahiri won the ninth and as Palmer bogeyed the 10th to Lahiri’s par, the Indian again led by two.
A superb tee shot on the par-3 11th saw him pick another birdie, and win the hole to go three-up. Lahiri birdied the 13th from five feet and 14th after chipping in. But on 14th Palmer also birdied to halve the hole. The 15th was halved again with pars.
On the 16th, Palmer conceded as Lahiri sat on a seven-foot birdie and he himself had missed a 13-foot birdie putt. Even a halved hole would not have taken the match further.