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Boise (USA), August 26
Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri reclaimed his PGA Tour card after finishing tied-5th with a bogey-free 5-under 66 in the final round of the Albertson Boise Open here.
Lahiri, who finished tied-7th in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship on last Sunday, has now secured enough points to earn one of the 25 PGA Tour cards at stake in the Korn Ferry Tour (KFT) Finals.
The 32-year-old made three closing birdies to finish three shots behind winner Matthew NeSmith of the United States.
“I haven’t experienced any kind of a high. Right now, I’m more focused on my golf and what I want to do in the time to come,” said Lahiri, who posted rounds of 68, 65, 69 and 66. “I had a lot of belief in myself that I could get my card back and play well. I’m more relieved with the fact that I’m putting some scores together which was satisfying,” added the former Asian No. 1.
After finishing a lowly 174th on the PGA Tour’s FedExCup points list, he needed to play in the KFT Finals to regain his playing rights on the world’s premier circuit.
And with his card safely in his back pocket now, he plans to challenge for a victory in the final tournament, the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, this week to try and top the rankings.
“I’m playing well enough with a lot of confidence and I’m no longer trying to secure my card. Hopefully, it frees me up and I can focus on getting into contention again and maybe get third time lucky and win,” he said. “If I can manage that, it’ll help get me into The Players Championship next year,” he added.
Lahiri worked on the basics with swing coach Vijay Divecha during the summer. He believes his game is now back on track for the season beginning next month.
“It’s coming together. It’s been a while since I was in contention and I needed to feel the adrenaline again and how to respond to it,” he said. “I didn’t wake up on a different side of the bed the past two weeks. I started working on some basics again when Vijay came over in July. We got some rest, recharged the batteries and game-wise I started to feel good again,” he said.
Lahiri was delighted to shoot four rounds in the 60s, which was the first time since last November when he enjoyed his lone top-10 finish of the season at the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico.
“...I’m more relieved to see myself scoring consistently. The trend is beginning to change and this gives me most satisfaction,” said Lahiri.
He is quietly hoping to make an impression to earn a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup. Lahiri featured for the international team in 2015 and 2017. — AFP
Aditi finishes tied-13th
Aurora (Canada): Indian golfer Aditi Ashok shot a 1-under 71 enroute to a season’s best tied-13th finish at the CP Women’s Open here. Aditi fired one birdie and one bogey on the front-nine and then had another birdie on the back-nine and finished with a total of 12-under. Top-ranked Jin Young Ko of South Korea and Nicole Broch Larsen of Denmark started the final round as co-leaders. But Ko fired an 8-under 64 to pull away from the field. Ko finished at 26-under 262, five shots better than Larsen. PTI
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