Lahiri placed tied 81st as Surratt, Meronk take early lead in Riyadh

Riyadh, Nov 19 (PTI) India's Anirban Lahiri was placed tied 81st and had a lot of catching up to do after starting with an even par 71 in the opening round of PIF Saudi International golf tournament, here on Wednesday.

The only Indian in the field, Lahiri combined three birdies with three bogeys and will need a solid second round to climb up the leaderboard and make his way inside the cut line.

Caleb Surratt and Adrian Meronk rekindled their magic with the Riyadh Golf Club, shooting nine-under-par 62s to take the first-round lead.

The pair of Suratt and Meronk lead from Belgium's Thomas Pieters, who returned a 63 while Kiradech Aphibarnrat from Thailand shot a 64 in the final event of the season on The International Series, and the third from last stop on the Asian Tour calendar.

The event is the last chance for Asian Tour hopefuls to finish in the top two of The International Series Rankings and secure a place on the LIV Golf League.

The leading three players in the rankings, Scott Vincent from Zimbabwe, Yosuke Asaji from Japan, and Filipino Miguel Tabuena were paired in the same group.

Vincent and Tabuena both carded 67s while Asaji fired a 72.

Vincent leads the Rankings with 325.59 points ahead of Asaji in second on 285.3, with Tabuena placed third, having earned 232.28 points.

With the winner this week set to earn 324 points the race is wide open, meaning players further down the Rankings also have a chance to grab one of the places at the very end.

Both Surratt and Meronk have history at this venue. Surratt shot a course record 61 in this event last year in the third round before going on to lose in a play-off, while Meronk claimed the LIV Golf Riyadh title here in February.

Surratt, who was beaten by Chile's Joaquin Niemann in extra time 12 months ago, was en route to break his course record when, after starting on 10, he played the back nine in seven-under-par 29.

He birdied six on the trot from 11 and made birdie on the last, before two more birdies followed on holes one and two, which put the American on 59 watch, before that was stood down after a bogey on the fourth. He closed with a birdie on nine.

The 21-year-old from North Carolina joined the LIV Golf League soon after turning professional and plays for Jon Rahm's Legion XIII team.

Surratt is yet to win but has come close several times. Even as he tied for second here last year, he was also joint second in the International Series England earlier in 2024 and was equal third in the International Series Morocco before that.

Meronk's victory here at the start of the season was his first on the LIV Golf League, which he debuted on last year.

Pieters birdied the last two holes to close in at the end. The 4Aces GC man arrived here in encouraging form after top 10 finishes in both the Link Hong Kong Open and the Moutai Singapore Open.

Kiradech, the Asian Tour Order of Merit winner in 2013, also likes the course since he was joint third in the Saudi Open early last year.

South African Louis Oosthuizen and England's Paul Casey are tied for fifth following 65s, along with Korean Seonghyeon Kim and Colombia's Sebastian Munoz.

The defending champion Niemann has work to do after a 72, while Australian Cam Smith, who was also in the play-off last year, came in with a 71. PTI AH AH DDV