Lahiri ready for first start in US in 2016

Lahiri will tee up with pro Kevin Chappell at La Quinta Country Club in the tournament that is played over three courses — Pete Dye designed TPC Stadium Course at PGA West; the Nicklaus Tournament Course and the La Quinta Country Club.

Published : Jan 21, 2016 20:11 IST , La Quinta (USA)

The 28-year-old Indian has evoked considerable interest in the US, following his top-50 ranking.
The 28-year-old Indian has evoked considerable interest in the US, following his top-50 ranking.
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The 28-year-old Indian has evoked considerable interest in the US, following his top-50 ranking.

Anirban Lahiri embarks on a new journey as he tees up this week at the Career Builder Challenge for his first start in the US this season.

It will also be his first start as a full member of the PGA Tour, for which he qualified after coming through as one of the graduates from the Web.com Tour Final series.

For Lahiri, it will be the beginning of a dream that took shape as he won twice in three weeks and got into top-50 of the world around 11 months ago.

Lahiri will tee up with pro Kevin Chappell at La Quinta Country Club in the tournament that is played over three courses — Pete Dye designed TPC Stadium Course at PGA West; the Nicklaus Tournament Course and the La Quinta Country Club.

The 28-year-old Indian has evoked considerable interest in the US, following his top-50 ranking and appearance at all four Majors and a tied fifth place finish at the PGA Championships last year.

He capped it by becoming the first Indian to play the Presidents Cup for the International team.

Lahiri earned his Tour card with top-16 finishes in the first two Finals events. Last year was a significant season in his career as he hit the spotlight with two wins in three weeks on the European Tour in February 2015.

Eleven months later he is in the US with a PGA Tour status. It was a year in which he played all Majors and the WGC and a select number of PGA Tour events, which pushed him into the world stage. Despite being a rookie, he may not feel like one when he tees it up this year.

Lahiri, who made it a habit of criss-crossing the globe last year, intends to do less of that and focus more on the US Tour.

“I am looking to play a full season out in the US so I’m very excited,” said Lahiri, who is now No. 41 in the world.

“I played on a lot of new courses last year and it going to be similar this season and a big learning curve. At La Quinta (Career Builder Challenge), I will play on three courses; then there is two courses in Torrey Pines (Farmers Insurance), and another two courses in Arizona (Waste Management Phoenix Open). I’m not used to playing tournament golf on multiple courses so that’s going to be new.”

‘I was exhausted last season’

Lahiri’s first stretch is going to be a little over two months, before he returns to India to defend his National Open title — the Hero Indian Open.

“I want to do well in the initial stages and it is very important for me to play well for two-and-a-half months. I don’t want to play the second half in duress playing more than I should be playing. I was exhausted last season and it showed in my performance. I also ended up with a knee problem.”

Lahiri will return for the Hero Indian Open, soon after the WGC-Cadillac Championship and then dash back to US for the WGC-Dell Match play. Then it will be time for the Masters.

“I loved playing the Majors, making my debut at Masters, so I am looking forward to going back to Augusta,” he Lahiri.

On the trip back home for Indian Open, he said: “There has to be special circumstances for me to be not playing my National Open. So I will be there.”

The Indian Open will be at DGC, where Lahiri has won four of his seven career titles.

Asked if playing three Tours would take a lot of effort and be a problem, Lahiri said: “I think I should be able to manage that. In Asia, I will play some at the fag end of the year because I want to support my home Tour. For Europe, the Majors and WGC will count as six, maybe I can squeeze in a few after the PGA season, and the Scottish Open will be an important run-up to the British Open.”

There will be Rio Olympics also for Lahiri and he is excited about it.

“I have played the Asian Games, so playing for your country is always special. I have played the World Cup, too. But that will be a focus in second half of the year, as Olympics will be in August,” said Lahiri

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