Anirban Lahiri tumbles on Day 2, fails to make cut at Players Championship golf

Anirban Lahiri missed cut after slumping to a mid-round tumble that saw him fall from a comfortable 3-under and Tied 27th in the first round after the second round at the Players Championship in Ponte Vedra.

The cut line was 1-under nd Lahiri, who scored 69 and 75, missed it narrowly.

Meanwhile, Webb Simpson tied the course record at TPC Sawgrass as the red-hot American claimed a commanding five-stroke lead following the second round, where Tiger Woods survived but Rory McIlroy missed the cut.

In a six-way tie for the lead at the start of Friday’s play, Simpson carded a stunning nine-under-par 63 to move clear.

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Charl Schwartzel (66), Patrick Cantlay (68) and Danny Lee (66) are Simpson’s nearest rivals heading into the penultimate round.

Former world No. 1 and 2016 winner Jason Day recorded a five-under-par 67 to be seven shots adrift of Simpson.

It was a disappointing day for Dustin Johnson, who dropped down the leaderboard after shooting an even-par 71.

Johnson opened with a 66 to be among the overnight leaders on Thursday but four bogeys to go with an eagle and three birdies saw the American star stumble to seven under alongside 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia (69).

Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas just managed to avoid the cut heading into the weekend.

Woods – a 14-time major champion and two-time winner of the PGA Tour tournament – hit a 71 to reach one under through 36 holes, a shot above the cut line.

Former world number one Spieth (68) and US PGA Championship winner Thomas (70) recovered from bad starts to stay alive in the field.

Rickie Fowler (71) – the 2015 winner – and four-time major champion McIlroy (74) were not so fortunate as they missed the cut.

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Lahiri stumbled in the second round after making a great start with birdies on sixth and seventh, which saw him rise to 5-under and Tied-8th at that early stage on Friday.

A missed par-putt on eighth saw him drop his first bogey on the day, but the ninth may well have been the turning point of the day. The bogey on Par-5 ninth after missing par from 12 feet was a disappointment. Then came a three-putt on 10th and that ruined the day and the round.

The short birdie miss on 11th and then a bad swing on Par-3 15th, which Lahiri called as “pretty much the only bad swing all day”, were followed by a bogey on 16th, which was the final straw.

“It was like a two-shot swing, from a birdie chance to bogey,” he said.

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Still Lahiri did well to par the 17th and 18th.

“I did not wake advantage of the Par-5s like I should. I didn’t put myself in the right positions and I allowed the momentum to slip away after being 2-under through 7 in second round. I three-putted on nine and allowed things to get away from me on 10 and 11 and so on.”

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So at even par for 36 holes, he will have to wait to see if he was staying on for the weekend or exiting early yet again.

“Looking at positives, my game trended in the right direction, except that I did not score well again. But I did hit better shots at times. I can taste it that my game is just around the corner,” said Lahiri, still managing a smile in rather warm conditions.

“It is not getting any easier out there, the 17th and 18th are very demanding and I am just waiting to see what happens and if I am going to here for the weekend.”