By Rahul Banerji
Three birdies in his last three holes, a clean round of 5-under 66 and a PGA Tour card in the pocket made it a very good weekend for Anirban Lahiri at the $1 million Albertson Boise Open on the Korn Ferry Tour on Sunday.
The Indian star, who lost his PGA Tour status earlier this year with a 174th place finish in the rankings thus made it back to the top tier for 2020 with one event of the feeder tour’s finals series.
He now heads to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, this week to try and top the rankings and gain entry into the flagship Players Championship.
Lahiri’s Sunday round at the Hillcrest Country Club gave him a share of fifth in the tournament and eighth place overall in the non-exempt category rankings, well clear of the cutoff mark for PGA Tour status qualification.
After his strong showing in the opening event in Columbus, Ohio, Lahiri had needed to finish 35th or better in Idaho to seal his PGA card. The fifth place earned his card, and a break from the pressure of needing to play the final event in the series as well.
Tweeted the 32 year old moments after his birdie-birdie-birdie finish, “Loved my beautiful week here @Boise_Open @KornFerryTour. Glad to get it done and head back to @PGATOUR #currypower is coming back slowly but surely!!”
Added the tour handle, Korn Ferry Tour@KornFerryTour, “With three consecutive closing birdies @Boise_Open, India’s Anirban Lahiri (@anirbangolf) has secured a spot inside The Finals 25 and a @PGATOUR return!”.
The 32-year-old former Asian no.1 said later, “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.
“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.”
“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.
On his playing on in hope of topping the final event of the KFT, Lahiri said, “If I can manage that, it’ll help get me into the Players Championship next year and helps me schedule my events a lot better.”
Home golfer Matthew NeSmith made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to post a 19-under total and a 1-stroke victory over Viktor Hovland and Brandon Hagy on Sunday.
With the win, NeSmith moved to the top spot in The Finals 25 and secured his PGA TOUR card for the first time, the Korn Ferry Tour website said.
Finishing in style
Lahiri had a four-day aggregate of 16-under 268 with rounds of 68, 65, 69 and 66 at Boise for his final placing that earned him 193 points in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals Standings to go with the 165 he had picked up last week.
The resultant 358 points saw him finish eighth behind the likes of Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Ben Taylor of England. The three and Australia’s Cameron Percy were the only non-Americans in the top 15.
Two birdies (2nd and 3rd) on his outbound nine holes gave Lahiri a comfortable cushion but he still needed to bring it home.
Pars over the next 12 holes meant he was safe, but he still nailed three birdies on the trot to hand in a clean card, including a superb approach shot from the rough on the 295-yard par-4 18th to within eight feet for the final putt.
Rory roars loudest at East Lake
At the season-ending FedEx Cup finals in Atlanta, meanwhile, Rory McIlroy turned up the heat on the opposition to coast home by a clear four shots in the Tour Championship and a $15 million pay-day at East Lake.
It is the largest single payout in professional golf, the PGA Tour website noted.
The win was his third title of the year, among his best ever, and went some way in easing the disappointment of losing to Tiger Woods at last year’s event at East Lake.
It also made him only the second player besides Woods to have won the FedEx Cup Tour Championship twice. It was also his 17th PGA Tour title in all.
Thanks to the new handicap format adopted from this year for the FedEx Cup playoffs, the Northern Ireland star had started five shots behind series leader Justin Thomas.
He was to close on 18-under 267 (66, 67, 68, 66), five shots clear of Thomas (272) – poetic justice? – and four better than second placed Xander Schauffele.
“Really cool to put my name on this trophy for a second time,” McIlroy said afterwards. “Any time you can do something that only Tiger has done, you’re doing something right.”
Also read: Anirban, Shubhankar resume hunt for PGA Tour status
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