Pushed to the wall and sitting on the cut line, Anirban Lahiri came alive over the last five holes with three birdies, two of them coming on the last two, to make the cut at Dell Technologies Championship.
Needing to make the cut and stay inside top-41 to ensure a place in the third leg of the FedEx Cup Play-offs at the BMW Championships, Lahiri is on tied-41st and will be looking to improve that to get to the next event.
Lahiri bogeyed the first hole yesterday and then parred the next 11 holes before missing a nine-footer for par to go two-over for the day and three-over for the tournament. But then Lahiri sank a 24-footer for a birdie on 13th and followed it up with further birdies on 17th and 18th to ensure he stayed on.
Jon Rahm, who is very much in the hunt for the FedExCup and its USD 10 million bonus, made an eagle and five birdies over his last 10 holes for a 5-under 66 and a two-shot lead at the halfway point. Rahm is generally seen as a strong finisher. Rahm with 66-67 is nine-under 133.
Dustin Johnson, the world’s No. 1 player who had a one-shot lead going into the second round, had a pair of double bogeys after a quick start and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to keep from falling further behind. Johnson shot a 72 and was five shots behind.
{{/usCountry}}Dustin Johnson, the world’s No. 1 player who had a one-shot lead going into the second round, had a pair of double bogeys after a quick start and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to keep from falling further behind. Johnson shot a 72 and was five shots behind.
{{/usCountry}}It’s already been an amazing year for Rahm. The 22-year-old Spaniard was No. 137 at the start of the year. Now he’s at No. 5. His two main goals were to get to the TOUR Championship and win a tournament and he has already done both. He won at Torrey Pines in January. He even won his first European Tour title at the Irish Open.
Paul Casey, who played in the final group last year until Rory McIlroy, ran him down, had a 65 and was two shots off the lead along with Adam Hadwin (65), Kevin Streelman (65) and Kyle Stanley (68).
Lucas Glover (No. 16) and Grayson Murray (No. 8) each made a hole-in-one that the PGA TOUR estimated were 65 seconds apart.
Phil Mickelson dropped only one shot on his way to a 67 and was 6-under 136, his best 36-hole score since June. Jordan Spieth shot a 65 and was in the group four shots behind.
McIlroy, meanwhile, was headed home after missing the cut as the defending champion for only the second time in his career. He also missed the cut as defending champion in the 2012 US Open. McIlroy will still advance to the BMW Championship, though he will need a top finish to get to East Lake for the TOUR Championship. The cut was at 3-over 145, which spared the likes of Bubba Watson, who is at No. 72 in the standings.