Jersey City (New Jersey)– Indian golfer Anriban Lahiri settled for a share of 56th position following a final round which included four birdies and three bogeys at The Northern Trust here as his hopes of progressing into next week’s BMW Championship in the FedExCup Playoffs are all but over.
Needing a top-10 finish at the Liberty National Golf Club to have any hopes of advancing, Lahiri had a 1 under-70 in the final round, postponed to Monday due to bad weather, as he aggregated 5-under-279 for the tournament. Lahiri was making his return into the Playoffs for the first time in three years.
“Not the finish to the season I was looking for but happy with the effort. Big thank you to my team for riding the highs and lows. Time to rest up and recover. #currypower,” the 34-year-old Indian star tweeted late on Monday.
American Tony Finau won the trophy after defeating Australian Cameron Smith in the first hole of a sudden-death playoff after both were tied on 20-under 264, with world No. 1 Jon Rahm finishing third. Finau’s long awaited second PGA Tour victory moves him up to pole position on the FedExCup standings.
Among the Asians, Korea’s Sungjae Im enjoyed his best finish at The Northern Trust in a share of 16th place as he led three other Asian stars into the second FedExCup Playoffs event, the BMW Championship which begins on August 26.
The 24-year-old Im, who was making his third appearance in the first Playoffs event, closed out the weather-hit week which forced a Monday finish with five birdies against four bogeys. He rose from 30th position to 25th on the FedExCup standings following his 14th top-25 finish of the PGA Tour 2020/21 season.
Japan’s reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama settled for a share of 43rd following a 70 as well which included a double bogey, bogey finish over his closing two holes. He dropped two rungs to 16th place on the FedExCup standings.
Another Korean, KH Lee will enter the BMW Championship in 37th place following his tie for 47th finish at Liberty National while compatriot Si Woo Kim, who missed the halfway cut, will be the fourth and final Asian player advancing in the Playoffs in 33rd position.
This week, the top-70 players will tee up at Caves Valley Golf Club at Owings Mills, with the subsequent top-30 advancing into the season finale, the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. Since the FedExCup was inaugurated in 2007, no more than two Asians have featured at the same time at the TOUR Championship. (IANS)
