By Rahul Banerji
Anirban Lahiri held steady through a testing final day in San Antonio to bring home fifth place, and plenty of joy, at the Valero Texas Open on Sunday.
The result capped a long period of struggle for the former Asia number one, and will also pay off handsomely in the larger context.
A final hole birdie gave Lahiri a 69 card on Sunday for sole fifth place at TPC San Antonio, and his best finish of the season so far.
The 33-year-old earned 110 FedEx Cup points and climbed from 125th to 94th in the race for the August play-offs, and in openings for 2022.
Lahiri also gained significantly in the world rankings and now stands 319th, the second-best Indian on the list behind Udayan Mane, up from 478th last week.
That gives him pole position for a Tokyo Olympics berth as the domestic season has stalled even if temporarily.
Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar meanwhile also are in play for Tokyo being active on the European Tour.
Good timing
Dubai-based golf writer Joy Chakravarty noted on Twitter, “The third @PGATOUR reshuffle happens right after #ValeroTexasOpen and Baan now should get back to No, 4.
“That should pretty much get him into the field for a majority of full-field events.”
Lahiri’s 10-under 278 total (71-69-69-69) was eight shots behind winner Jordan Spieth, who ended a four-year winless streak on Sunday.
“I didn’t quite get into the hunt … there was too much separation between the leader group and the rest of us,” Lahiri said after sinking birdies on three of the four par-5s on Sunday.
“I think overall through the week, I didn’t convert as many of my opportunities.
“I definitely hit the ball good enough to contend and maybe win but my bunker play and my short game, and putting from mid-range to short range was below par,” he added.
Starting the day five behind co-leaders Spieth and Matt Wallace, Lahiri ended a run where he has missed five cuts from seven starts this year with some wonderful ball striking.
It was the result of a lot of sweat on the range, but Lahiri knows there is still plenty of work ahead if he is to win on the PGA Tour.
“Those are the things that I need to work on. I’ve put a lot of work in the full swing and ball striking in the last month or so, and to see that working and holding up under pressure is very pleasing.
‘Great week’
“Overall, it was a great week for me. I’m very happy with how I kept my composure and kind of stuck to what I needed to do.
“It was one of those weeks that I could have done a lot more but I’d rather build on this and work on some of the areas where I came up short on.”
Prior to the week, Lahiri was 150th in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green but he has focussed on his swing which he said needed some “simplifying”.
After Sunday, Lahiri was 25th in the Tee to Green stat category. With coach Vijay Divecha scheduled to visit the US soon, there is plenty for him to look forward to.
“I gave myself a lot of good looks. The first day, I was guilty of not hitting it quite as close. The second day, I missed lots of opportunities, and could have shot 5 to 6-under.
“Third round, I hit it even better than I hit it today. I felt like if I was scoring better, I could have shot a few 5, 6, 7 under and that was the difference in the end,” said Lahiri.
“I need to clean up on some of the areas like I chipping and bunker play which has been my strength.
More confidence
“I’ll go back to the drawing board and spend time getting more confidence in those areas and also in my mid-range and short range putts.
“I’ve done well outside of 15 feet but not done well inside of 12 feet. Those are the areas that I’ll be working on and hopefully get better in time to come.”
For Spieth, 27, it was a 12th PGA Tour victory after 1,351 days, and 83 starts from his last win at the 2017 Open Championship.
“I feel grateful,” Spieth said. “It’s been a road that’s had a lot of tough days.
“It kind of bounces off and on when it hits me that I’m back in the winner’s circle. I’ve had people in my corner that have always believed in me, even when I’ve kind of believed less in myself.”
Speith (19-under), second-placed Charley Hoffman (16-under) and fourth placed Lucas Glover (12-under) all had final rounds of 6-under 66.
Overnight co-leader Wallace finished sole third on 14-under 274,
Also read: Lahiri, Aditi Ashok into money rounds with all to play for
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