By Rahul Banerji
Five birdies against two bogeys kept Anirban Lahiri in the title hunt at the Wyndham Championship going into the weekend rounds.
Lahiri brushed off some recent poor form which has seen him miss four of his last five cuts to play himself into contention at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina on Friday.
After two days, Lahiri was on 7-under 133 (66-67) and in a share of seventh place, two shots adrift of joint leaders Joohyung Kim, Brandon Wu and Ryan Moore, all at 9-under 131.
The 35-year-old Indian star is counting on his putter to catch fire over the weekend as he seeks his first PGA Tour victory.
“I’ve been playing really solid. Today I hit it really good again. Bit of a cold day with my putter,” Lahiri said.
“Started out, had a lot of really good looks from short range, didn’t make any and just couldn’t build the early momentum.
“I played a lot better than my score, so I’m just going to stay relaxed and keep doing what I’m doing.
“I think I’m getting closer and closer to putting my best on these greens, so just got to stay a little more patient.”
On Thursday, Lahiri had opened with a solid 66, his best score since May.
Paying dividends
A 10-day trip back home to fine-tune his game with swing coach, Vijay Divecha, seems to have paid off for Lahiri.
“I’m really excited about how I’m playing. I think I played really, really good,” Lahiri said.
“Putted pretty bad, to be honest, and still shot a good score. I think the time off working with my coach, going back to India, I can feel that confidence.
“I’m seeing shots better, I’m hitting much, much better golf shots. Got to go clean up a little bit and bring it all together,” said Lahiri, who ranked fifth in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green but was 112th with the putter.
At a venue where Arjun Atwal wrote a slice of golf history by becoming the first Indian winner on the PGA Tour in 2010, Lahiri knows there is plenty to play for especially with the FedExCup Playoffs starting next week.
There is also the Presidents Cup International Team qualifying that concludes in three weeks’ time.
Lahiri feels at home at Sedgefield and hopes to gain some momentum heading into next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of three legs in the Playoffs.
“It’s a lot like what I played growing up. Bermuda is something that comes naturally to me, although I don’t think I’ve ever played Bermuda greens as fast as this.
“I’ve shot some good scores here and hopefully I can just build on this,” he said.
Good stretch
“I’ve kind of cooled off a little bit since May. I had a good stretch going there from the Players onward, I had some good momentum, took a break and haven’t really been able to get back to playing my best.
“And I’ve not played the last three weeks, that was another decision I took with going and seeing my coach and getting back to where I believe that when I heat up.
“I can contend and I can really compete and I feel that way starting this week.”
Earlier, speaking to a group of Indian reporters, Lahiri felt it was time to put his best foot forward.
“This is the time of the year to play your best and hopefully make it all the way to the Tour Championship, that’s definitely one of the goals.
“I’ve been there (Playoffs), I’ve done that plenty of times. You want to get hot at the right time of the year.
Right time
“There’s never a bad time to play well, but if there’s ever a good time to play well, it’s now, especially starting next week.
“You can have a pretty average year, but if your good week, you’re in the Playoffs, it will give the entire season a different outlook.
“A lot of people have been asking me why I haven’t played much coming in. I took about two or three weeks off after the Scottish. I just wanted to be at my best going into this last stretch.
“And this year, because I played better, it afforded me the luxury of being able to do that, so yeah, looking to make the most of it.
“The Wyndham Championship stands out in the minds and the memories of all Indian golf lovers because it’s the only tournament that’s been won by an Indian almost a decade ago.
“To that extent I still remember the first time I played here and I was playing 18 and I was trying to get a sense of, oh, Arjun hit it here, hit it over the green, this is the pin that he got up and down.
Familiar space
“It’s been a long time since my first time here, it’s been six or seven years, so to that extent the tournament will always have sort of a different place for me from that standpoint.
“Obviously from the PGA Tour standpoint, as the season finale, I’ve come to this tournament a couple of times needing to play well or decently to keep my card,
“I’ve come here on a few occasions comfortable like I am this year, and I’ve come here on a couple of occasions needing a top-3 or top-5 and I had to go back to Korn Ferry Finals and get my card back.
“It’s a big week, it’s a stressful week for a lot of golfers. You can tell just by walking around a different kind of nervous energy here because this tournament means a lot to a lot of people.
“Their entire next year almost is dependent on this week, so it’s a big week. And it’s a very different kind of week.
“It’s got a, I won’t say Q-School vibe, but it has that same kind of nervous energy about it and it’s a different kind of week.
“I’m very glad that I flew out to India. We (with coach Divecha) spent a good 10 days or so working on a bunch of different things.
“I knew that there were four or five little nagging things that I needed to clean up in my game, and on occasion I was confused as to which one I fix first.
“We looked at my grip, at my posture, which has been my long-standing issue, and then we also looked at taking those aspects and finding a way to put it into my pre-shot routine.
“So I worked with my performance specialist in Bangalore and Vijay as a team to see how we can create a process or a system whereby the technique kind of falls in line with what I do on a day-to-day basis.
“So it was a very interesting, very fruitful trip.”
Also read: Dropped shots hold Anirban Lahiri back at John Deere Classic
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