NEW YORK: A mixed performance under his belt, ace Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri is proud as well as disappointed at his first year results as a full timer on the PGA Tour.
After a dramatic tied fifth at the PGA Championships, he went on to earn his card on the PGA Tour after just two of the four events on the Web Tour Finals.
After 20 events on the Tour in this season, including all Majors and WGC events, he can be proud of the fact that he made the cut in all but four events, but is also disappointed that he did not contend as often as he should have.
The net result, Lahiri has just one top 10 finish — at Dean & Deluca Championships — in the season that has been a story of good starts but not so good weekends.
Lahiri, paired with Tony Finau and Matthew Fitzpatrick has time and again, started with rounds of mid-sixties in first two rounds only to see the advantage being frittered away on the weekends.
Yet, he has kept his head on the shoulders and soldiered on. He knows he belongs to this league on the PGA Tour. He played the President’s Cup last year, thereby becoming the first Indian to do so – and has racked up a whole lot of firsts for Indian golf, including the best finish in a Major – tied fifth at PGA at Whistling Straits last year.
“I know I have played well, but not scored on the weekends. It rankles, but I also realise that once things fall together especially on the greens and putting becomes better, I have a lot to look forward to,” says Lahiri.
It has also been a season where Lahiri has been adjusting to new courses and new events. And that has meant travelling and tiredness. But he has been smart to take breaks.
“I am coming off a break after the (British) Open and I am feeling fresh. The positive memories of PGA last year are obviously something I am hoping to feed off,” he added.
On his season, Lahiri said, “Frankly, I have played well for good part of the season, but have not been able to continue the momentum into the weekends. Just one top 10 finish in 20 starts is not what I was looking for. The way my game has been I was hoping to do a lot better. I should have contended more. I missed just one cut in last 10 starts since Masters, so I do feel I could have done better.”
Next stop after PGA is going to be the Olympic Games in Rio, for the 2006 Asian Games silver medallist. (PTI)
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