From pgatour.com
Anirban Lahiri aims to gather momentum towards his 2020-21 PGA Tour campaign on debut at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.
The 33-year-old had a tied 36th finish in the season-opening Safeway Open two weeks ago which provided him with shot of confidence after enduring a difficult past two years.
Lahiri will be in familiar company when he tees up alongside Arjun Atwal in the same group for the opening two rounds.
“The game feels really good at the moment. Safeway was a good confidence booster as after the bad start, I was able to finish strong which felt great,” said Lahiri.
Solid start
At the Safeway Open, he opened with a lacklustre 74 but added rounds of 65, 67 and 70 to ensure a solid start to his sixth season on the PGA Tour.
It was his best finish since a T30 at the Valspar Championship in March, 2019 and the 65 was his lowest score after the second round of the John Deere Classic in July, 2019.
Lahiri, a former two-time Presidents Cup International Team member, spent time at home during golf’s shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In that time, he dismantled his golf swing and rebuilt it from scratch with coach Vijay Divecha.
Finding optimism
A first trip to the Corales Golf Club offers Lahiri fresh optimism of another good week as he seeks to regain his best form on the Tour.
“The golf course here reminds me of my days on the Asian Tour.
“Similar grasses and temperatures and conditions to what I played for years back home,” said Lahiri, who holds 10 career top-10s from 120 starts on the PGA Tour.
“Definitely a feeling of familiarity even though it’s my first time here.”
Atwal, India’s first winner on the PGA Tour, is also looking to start his 2020-21 campaign on a strong note.
Last season, the 47-year-old featured in 12 tournaments on TOUR, making the cut in five events including three of his last four starts.
He is looking forward to a fruitful week, especially in the company of Lahiri.
“It’s great. I’m looking forward to playing with Baan,” said Atwal.
Woods commits to Zozo defence
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods has said he would defend his title at the Zozo Championship @ Sherwood from October 22 to 25.
“I am excited to defend my title at the Zozo Championship,” Tiger said.
“It is disappointing that we will not be able to play in Japan this year, but Sherwood Country Club will be a great backdrop for what I know will be a great championship.”
Eleven months ago, Tiger equalled Sam Snead’s long-standing record of 82 career wins by securing a three-stroke victory at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan.
Historic feat
In front of large galleries, Woods led the tournament from start to finish to beat Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Sungjae Im of Korea shared third place in the star-studded tournament which heralded Japan’s first official PGA Tour Event.
Earlier this month, Tour and Zozo officials said the championship would not be played in Japan this year due to issues caused by the pandemic.
It would instead move to Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California,” they added.
Sherwood is a Jack Nicklaus signature designed golf course and was the venue for Woods’ tournament, the Hero World Challenge, from 2000 to 2013.
Tiger has a terrific record at Sherwood where he won his own event five times (2001, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2011) and finished runner-up on five other occasions.
Also read: Lahiri, Sharma rediscover their mojo, and form, on tour
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