By Rahul Banerji
Anirban Lahiri took a leaf out of Tvesa Malik’s notebook and did not book himself a flight home to Florida from the Dominican Republic this weekend.
The gamble paid off – as it had for Tvesa who flew out to Europe on a one-way ticket eight weeks ago – with a top-10 finish in Punta Cana, and a berth at the next PGA Tour event.
Lahiri ended Sunday with a 2-under 70 that was good enough for a 13-under aggregate 275 (69-72-64-70) and tied sixth place overall.
It is his best finish on the PGA Tour since the a shared second at the 2017 the Memorial presented by Nationwide and a tied fifth at the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
It also fetched an entry to the Sanderson Farms Championship, where Lahiri was the ninth reserve after entries had closed on Friday.
Tweeted Lahiri on Sunday, “Been a long time coming. Still a few chinks in the armor that I need to work on….. but boy that felt good!! #fighton @CoralesChamp.
Top finish
It was the 33-year-old’s first top-10 on the PGA Tour in nearly two years since the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico in November, 2018.
On Sunday, he swapped four birdies against two dropped shots but his most critical hole was probably a par on the 17th, which helped keep Lahiri in the top-10 of the $4 million Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.
Hudson Swafford took his second PGA Tour title five shots further up the leaderboard.
According to the PGA Tour, Lahiri did not book a return flight to his home base in Florida and instead registered for a seat on the charter plane to the Sanderson Farms Championship.
“I felt really good after my first event in Napa (Safeway Open),” Lahiri said later.
Building momentum
“I had two really good rounds to finish that event as well, so I got it rolling here with some of that. Definitely, I’ve managed to build that snowball and build some momentum.
“Hopefully I use this going forward and kind of keep this going and maybe even play a little better,” said Lahiri, who finished T36 in the Safeway event after opening with a 74.
“I did not book a return flight and I booked myself on the charter, so this is going to be good for my confidence because I backed myself to do this.”
Lahiri was 4-over through his opening three holes on Thursday before fighting back for an opening 69.
Flawless round
He followed it up with a 72 before lighting up the course with a flawless 64 on Saturday which pushed him up the leaderboard.
“The last couple of seasons, I’ve been very disappointing, and where I find myself in my eligibility is not great, so I need to play myself into some of the events that I like to play.
“Definitely have a lot of opportunities in the fall that I need to take and build on that.
“Hopefully get closer to being really in contention on Sunday. I’ve had outside chances, but the goal is to kind of get to the last few with a realistic chance or maybe even a lead,” said Lahiri.
Lahiri ranked first in putting average per green in regulation for the week as he made birdies on 6, 8, 12 and 15 and bogeys on 3 and 11.
Finishing behind Swafford (-18, 65-67-69-69 – 270) were Tyler McCumber (-17), Mackenzie Hughes (-16), Nate Lashley (-15) and Adam Long (-14) in that order.
Swafford was the only player in the field with all four rounds in the 60s, and his second title came in his 169th start after the 2017 American Express.
Joining Lahiri as a late enrant at the Sanderson Farms Championship is Will Zalatoris, both earning spots based on their top-10 finishes.
Also read: Lahiri looks to rebuild momentum at Corales Puntacana
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