By Rahul Banerji
It’s been a while since he was last on a golf course and Anirban Lahiri is quite looking forward to resuming his acquaintance with the game.
Stuck at home in India for the last five months thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic and it’s fallout, Lahiri will line up shortly for the Wyndhan Championship, and is clearly pleased at the idea.
“I’m feeling excited. It’s not something I’ve felt like in a long time,” Lahiri told the PGA Tour.
“It’s like going back to school after a summer vacation. It’s a good thing.”
It will be the 33-year-old’s first professional outing is five months, since he flew home in March only to see the corona-virus put a full-stop to sporting activity – and international travel.
Closed off
Closed borders meant that he was still in Bangalore when the PGA Tour resumed competition in mid-June after a three-month suspension,
Lahiri, though, made best use of the time that was forced on his hands and returned to long-time coach Vijay Divecha.
“I got to spend six weeks with Vijay which I haven’t done in like five or six years,” Lahiri told the PGA Tour.
“It’s a big reset and I was able to work continuously with him,” added Lahiri, who has endured an extended lean spell of form.
His last top-10 came at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in November of 2018.
“We basically disassembled the engine and put everything back together. In the last few years, I’ve only had the opportunity to see Vijay for short periods of time and those were often fixes.
“This time, we have rebuilt from scratch and started with the assumption you don’t know how to play golf and have never held a club.
Rebuilding
“We started with the grip, posture, the basics and fundamentals, and worked our way up.
“We deleted the good and the bad stuff, and it’s a clean slate. We’ve actually done this a few times previously to give ourselves a reset.”
On Thursday, Lahiri will put his reset game to the test with a third visit to Sedgefield Country Club. This is where countryman Arjun Atwal secured his historic victory at the 2010 Wyndham Championship.
It remains the first – and so far only — win by an Indian on the PGA Tour.
“I like it as it’s an old school track, tree-lined and you have to shape shots,” said Lahiri, who played all four rounds in 2017 and 2019.
“There’s a good mix of lengthy holes and shortish holes. If you get hot, you can make lots of birdies and do a lot of damage.”
Getting close
Lahiri is yet to win on the world’s most prestigious tour though he has two top-3 finishes, at the 2016 CIMB Classic and the Memorial Tournament in 2017.
“I feel good about my game in a way I haven’t felt in a long time. I feel good about playing golf again.
“If you don’t play well for an extended period, it can work against you.
“If you put in the good work, which I believe I have, you restart by building the confidence up again and I’m excited about competing.
“I haven’t watched much of the golf since the restart which is a good thing as I would have missed it even more. But now that I’m back in America, I’m ready to go.
“I’m hungry. I love playing golf and I love competing. I’m ready to get out there and pushing myself,” he added.
The Wyndham Championship is the final event of the regular season.
The top 125 from the FedExCup points list will qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs, comprising of the Northern Trust, BMW Championship and Tour Championship.
The FedExCup winner takes home $15 million, the largest winner’s prize in golf.
Also read: Arjun Atwal is back where it began, and hungry as ever
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