LIV Golf Virginia Round 2: Anirban Lahiri's Bogey-Free 64 Builds a Two-Shot Lead as Crushers Edge Smash

Anirban Lahiri has spent years living just below the top line of leaderboards. On Saturday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, he finally put his name on it and kept it there.

The Crushers GC veteran shot a bogey-free 7-under 64 in the second round of LIV Golf Virginia to reach 11 under, two shots clear of Bubba Watson, Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer heading into Sunday's finale. His round also dragged the Crushers to the top of the team board at 21 under, one shot ahead of a Smash GC side that refused to blink.

Six Birdies in Nine Holes

Lahiri's day turned on a burst in the middle of his round: six birdies in a nine-hole stretch that at one point pushed his lead to four. Overnight rain had softened the course, and the 37-year-old took full advantage, getting up and down on all four greens he missed.

The leaderboard tightened late, which is what made his two par saves so valuable. At the par-3 16th he pushed a 9-iron into a drainage ditch right of the green, took a free drop and then poured in a putt of roughly 39 feet to keep the card clean. At the par-4 18th, a loose drive found the waste area left, his second shot settled in the rough, and he still walked off with par after holing an 11-footer.

"Golf is a really funny game," Lahiri said of the 16th, and it is hard to argue. A round that could have leaked two shots on the way in instead finished without a blemish.

The Weight of the Résumé

The numbers around Lahiri explain why Sunday matters so much. He has finished second four times in LIV Golf, and a win would be his first individual title on any tour in a decade. He did not hide from the chance to sweep both events this week.

"I haven't felt it, but I'm pretty sure the best feel is to have both trophies," Lahiri said.

He also made it clear he plans to keep his foot down from the front, saying the key is to stay aggressive and chase birdies rather than protect a number.

Three Chasers, Three Different Stories

Watson made the biggest move of the chasing group with a 65, and he did it after switching to a mallet putter. He hit 17 of 18 greens but left a run of putts short around the turn and made bogey at the 10th, grumbling afterward that leaving them short on fast greens made no sense to him. Still, the RangeGoats captain is two back and in position to chase his first LIV individual title.

McDowell (66) was one of four players to go bogey-free on the day and sounded like someone who knows how rare this kind of chance is. "Excited to give myself probably my first opportunity on LIV," the Smash GC veteran said. Kaymer, Friday's co-leader, added a 67 and remains firmly in the hunt, saying another win would mean a lot to him.

The next group is loaded. Joaquin Niemann, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson all sit at 7 under, four back. Niemann briefly led on Saturday before he found the lake at the par-3 11th and made double bogey, and he still signed for 68 after hitting 17 greens. DeChambeau slipped to a 69, while Rahm and Mickelson each posted 68. Louis Oosthuizen matched Watson's 65 to climb to 6 under.

Crushers vs. Smash

The team race is now a two-horse sprint. No other side is within seven shots of the lead.

The Crushers shot 14 under on Saturday with Lahiri's 64, a 66 from Paul Casey, DeChambeau's 69 and Charles Howell III's 71. Smash matched that 14 under almost entirely on steadiness: McDowell's 66, bogey-free 67s from Talor Gooch and Jason Kokrak, and a 70 from captain Brooks Koepka. Koepka's card was the wild one, with seven birdies offset by four bogeys, including doubles at the par-3 fourth and 11th. Gooch, meanwhile, hit 13 of 14 fairways.

The RangeGoats, Friday's leaders, slid to seventh at 8 under after a 1-over day. Matthew Wolff's injury withdrawal left Ollie Schniederjans in relief again, and his 73, along with 73 from Ben Campbell and 74 from Peter Uihlein, wasted Watson's 65.

4Aces GC sits third at 13 under, with Harold Varner III's 66 doing the lifting, and Torque GC is fourth at 12 under behind a bogey-free 65 from Carlos Ortiz. Stinger GC posted the day's third-best team score at 11 under, led by Oosthuizen and a 67 from Branden Grace, who needed only 1.33 putts per hole. Legion XIII is eighth at 5 under, and Majesticks GC remains last at 12 over.

An Early Start Sunday

The weather has one more say. With showers and possible afternoon thunderstorms in the forecast, LIV moved Sunday's shotgun start up to 8:05 a.m. ET from 9:54 a.m. That gives Lahiri an early tee time with a two-shot cushion, a team title on the line and a pack of major champions behind him. How he handles the first hour will shape everything that follows.

Catch up on Friday in our Round 1 recap, and the full numbers are in the LIV Golf Round 2 recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: LIV Golf (Round 2 recap), The Washington Times, Business Today, Fox Sports, Irish Golfer. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: LIV Golf.