Anirban Lahiri makes solid start at Open

India’s Anirban Lahiri began his Open championship campaign with a solid two-under-par 69 but was little disappointed as he felt the round could have been so much better,

It was a opening day when the 29-year old felt that he left a few birdies out on the course.

Playing alongside American Keegan Bradley and and Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who also both had solid first rounds with a 67 and 68 respectively, he carded three birdies and a bogey but was unable to add to his score in the red over the back nine at Royal Troon.

“I think I played pretty good but left a few opportunities out there on the back nine,” Lahiri said in an Asian Tour statement.

“It was a good day to score, the wind died down. I had a few good looks but didn’t convert. I’m a bit disappointed with not shooting a couple under on the back nine but I’m quite happy with the

way I played.”

Lahiri, who is making his fourth Open appearance, said his putter let him down.

“I had a lot of looks from 25 feet and a couple from inside 10 feet. Made good strokes but didn’t find the bottom of the cup.

“I found a lot of fairways especially on a lot of the tighter holes and found a lot of greens. That’s a good sign hopefully.

“I focused pretty well. When you’re coming home, you can’t afford to get frustrated. If you do that, you try to push too hard, the course can bite you.

“I was expecting the winds to pick up and with the sunshine all day, I thought the greens would get a little firmer but they didn’t.”

American Phil Mickelson lead the Open on day one after an eight-under-par 63 on the opening day.