Charlotte
Anirban Lahiri repaired a shaky start with a composed finish to card a modest 1-over 72 for a share of the 33rd spot on the opening day of the 99th PGA Championships.

He struck two birdies in the last three holes on a golf course that was not playing easy by any means. Lahiri was at one stage, three-over after eight holes yesterday.

That he managed to hang in and finish at 1-over 72 gave him ample confidence that he was in for better things in the second round when he plays in the morning.

Dane Thorbjorn Olesen shot a 4-under 67 in the morning to take the lead and in the afternoon wave, Kevin Kisner holed three birdies in the last five holes to join him in shared lead.

Kisner finished with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole. Jordan Spieth, seeking a career Grand Slam, struggled on the greens during his 72 and Rory McIlroy ended with the same score after being one-under at the turn.

McIlroy was done in by a bogey and double bogey at the 13th and the 14th and both were tied-33rd.

Lahiri said, “Frankly I played solid but it was only in the second nine that I got going. I had a shaky start but as the round progressed things became better. The greens were a lot slower than what I expected, but they were firmer as they had dried up. I ended up leaving a lot of putts short. I really struggled with the speed of the greens.”

Speaking of his misses, Lahiri explained, “On the second nine (the front side of the course) I missed two makeable putts from short distances like from six feet on the fifth (for par) and from five feet on the eighth for birdie.”