Golfers Lahiri, Shiv miss cut at British Open

Southport (England), July 22 (IANS) Indian golfers Anirban Lahiri and Shiv Kapur missed the weekend cut at the British Open after they scored three-over 73 each in the second round and finished tied 78th.

Battling the cold, windy and rainy conditions on Friday, Lahiri and Kapur struggled at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. Their two-day total of six-over 146 was a single shot outside the cut declared at the tournament.

Lahiri, the 2015 Asian Tour number one, made a poor club selection on the 18th hole, hitting a driver instead of a three-wood and saw his ball land in the fairway bunker which resulted in a disappointing bogey, according to an Asian Tour release.

"I looked back at the two days that I played and all I see is I didn't make a putt. I had two one putts and hit 15 or 14 greens in these conditions. I just did not get the hang of the greens. It is very disappointing because I played so well this week," he said in the release.

Shiv, making his third appearance at the British Open, was disappointed to miss the weekend rounds but was pleased with his performance.

"It was brutal out there. First it was the wind then the rain and the wind switched on the back nine. All in all I hung quite tough and played pretty well. I made a couple of bogeys on the back but I fought back. Unfortunately it was one shot too many," he said.

"On a day like today, you know everyone is battling. At the start of the day I figured even-par would be a good score and I tried to hang on but I had a bad stretch in the middle of the round."

At the top of the leaderboard was American Jordan Spieth, who carded a one-under 69 that took his two-day total to six-under 134 -- a two-stroke lead over over compatriot Matt Kuchar (71).

The winner of the 2015 Masters and US Open, Spieth was in a three-way tie for first after firing a five-under on Thursday on England's northwest coast, reports Efe.

Spieth started strong with a birdie on the par-four fourth, although bogeys on the third and ninth holes left him one-over at the turn.

The native of Dallas, Texas, recovered to notch a pair of birdies on holes 11 and 12 and then made up for a bogey on the 14th hole by shooting an eagle on the 15th that briefly took him to seven-under for the day.

The world No.3 bogeyed the 16th, however, before making pars on the last two holes.

"Gaining two strokes on a day like today on one hole, that was huge. That eagle putt was big because our goal was to try and shoot two-under," Spieth said afterward.

"That got us to it and we almost came in that way, but one-under was a tremendous score today. I'm very pleased with it."

His compatriot Brooks Koepka (72) and England's Ian Poulter (70) shared the third spot at three-under 137 total.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy also made a charge on Friday, shooting 68 to move to one-under for the tied sixth spot.

Swedish defending British Open champion Henrik Stenson and American world No.1 Dustin Johnson both made the cut but are well off the lead at two-over and three-over, respectively.

Japanese world No.2 Hideki Matsuyama was at two-under for the tournament late in his second round but he fell to even par after a costly double-bogey on the par-five 17th.