Anirban Lahiri recovers from spasms to fight back at WGC

AKRON (Ohio): India's Anirban Lahiri recovered from his back spasms to card an improved two-over 72 on the second day but remained static at tied 72nd in the World Golf Championships Bridgestone-Invitational here.
Lahiri, who was struck by back spasms on the front-nine in the first round, had struggled his way to a 77 on the opening day.
Lahiri, winner of the Malaysian Open and the Hero Indian Open this season on European Tour, is now nine-over 149 for two rounds and placed way down in the 72nd place, exactly where he was after the first day.
Meanwhile, Jim Furyk shot a second successive 66 and moved into lead at eight-under 132. The 45-year-old Furyk was four shots ahead of Shane Lowery (66), Bubba Watson (66) and Dustin Johnson (67).
Jordan Spieth, who has never played well at Firestone, found an under-par round with 68 and is now tied eighth at two-under 138.
Lahiri, who was hit by back spasms in the first round, said, "It got a lot better overnight and the warm weather helped. I enjoyed the sweat for a change."
"When I worked up a sweat, it kind of got flushed out. I was moving good. I have got my yardage back, though my timing is slightly off in early parts of the round because of what happened yesterday," he added.
As for the second round, the Indian said, "It was a silly round of golf, all of my dropped shots were kind of silly. I probably hit one bad shot, which deserved a bogey. Actually, I am not playing too badly, but having said that it is not good when you see a big number (referring to first round) like that on the scoreboard."
Lahiri had some painkillers and saw the physio before his round and felt better as the day went on.
"I am looking at these next two days to get some momentum to see how much I can go back to where I am. I will try to post a couple of scores in 60s and take it from there," he said.
Lahiri teed off from the 10th and bogeyed the 11th and the par-five 16th to turn in two-over. On the second nine, he dropped a shot on the first to go three-over.
However, birdies on second and seventh brought him to one-over for the day, before a closing bogey on ninth saw him finish at 72.
Furyk had seven birdies and three bogeys, one of them on the ninth, which was his closing hole for the day.
Furyk, the 2003 US Open, won his 17th Tour title this year and always seems to play well at Firestone. He has nine top-10s in 15 appearances at the Bridgestone Invitational, including a pair of runner-up finishes.
One of those came in a seven-hole playoff with Tiger Woods as darkness descended on the Robert Trent Jones masterpiece while in 2012 Furyk led the entire final round until a bogey at the 72nd hole handed Keegan Bradley the victory.
Graeme McDowell (71), Danny Lee (72) and Henrik Stenson (69) share the fifth place at three-under 137, behind the threesome of Lowery, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson, who are tied second.
Thongchai Jaidee shot a one-over 71 to move up five rungs to be tied 49th as he had one birdie against two bogeys for a four-over 144 total.
China's Liang Wen-chong shot a 73 to slip back to equal 56th position while American David Lipsky carded 74 for tied 62nd spot. Australian Andrew Dodt carded a 71 for 71st position.
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