File photo of India and Crushers GC star Anirban Lahiri who will be looking to bounce back at LIV Golf UK from the disaster at Valderrama where he missed out on the title with a bungled winning putt. Image courtesy livgolf.com.
From a Correspondent
Rochester, England: Crushers GC’s Anirban Lahiri admits the first couple of days after his heartbreaking loss in LIV Golf Andalucía were very difficult.
“The first two-three nights, every time I’d shut my eyes, I’d find myself on the 18th green of Valderrama,” said Lahiri, who missed a putt from two feet for a first LIV Golf individual win and his first title since the 2015 Hero Indian Open.
Lahiri is now sleeping peacefully and now looking ahead, specifically to this week’s LIV Golf UK by JCB.
That process was helped immensely by his own optimistic nature, as well as a week-long family holiday in Spain during which he did not touch a club.
Meanwhile, the massive outpouring of support he received from friends and fans across the globe, as well as his Crushers teammates, was another layer of balm that soothed the pain.
“I’m excited for every week, but ‘excitement’ would be the wrong word this week,” said Lahiri, whose runner-up finish to Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia moved him to 16th in the season-long Individual Standings.
“It’s just this intense eagerness of wanting to go out and test myself again. Of course, I’d always want to win a golf tournament, but I just want to go out and push myself again and see how I deal with whatever situation I’m in, whether I’m playing well or not playing well.
Recovery process
“The family vacation in Spain was planned right after I lost the playoff at the Final Qualifying for The Open. It’s not that I did not want to play golf, or hated the sight of a golf course, but spending time with my wife and kids helped me get over everything within a couple of days.
“And it truly helped that LIV Golf has this unique team aspect. For all of them to stay back and hug me and for them to have something nice and encouraging to say, meant a lot.
“We were there for Bryson (DeChambeau) when he was struggling and when Paul (Casey) was not playing his best last year. And it was good to lean on them when I needed them.
“Apart from Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup, only LIV Golf gives you that opportunity.
“My playing partner Martin (Kaymer) said some very nice things to me before the playoff.
“A friend messaged from Singapore that the only reason he felt bad I did not win the tournament was because nobody will now talk about the incredible birdie I made on the 17th hole (from a divot for his third shot) and everyone will only remember the missed putt.
“The reactions have been amazing to see, from the entirety of the spectrum of friends, family, colleagues, competitors, fans … It’s amazing your work can evoke so much emotion. You do feel very humble from it all.
“Of course, I got a lot of hate messages as well. Was really surprised by that, but realised they were mainly from gamblers who must have lost their money. And I was able to ignore those.”
Vital lessons
The time away also gave Lahiri a chance to reflect on what happened with that putt and add it to his learnings.
“I think there was a lot of shock involved with what happened, because the mistake I made was that in my head, I thought it was over. It obviously wasn’t,” said Lahiri, who now has four second-place finishes on LIV Golf.
“I was completely in my bubble. In fact, I did not know if I was leading or if I was trailing when I hit my tee shot on the 18th hole. That’s when I asked Timmy (Giuliano, his caddie) about what we needed to do.
“I did everything right until then, but while I waited for Danny (Lee) and Martin to putt out, I kind of popped out of that bubble, and rushed into the two-footer. Hit it dead center of the cup, which wasn’t the line. I didn’t spend nearly enough time, and I didn’t go through my processes.
“I think the big lesson to learn is it’s not over till the ball is holed out. In the bigger scheme of things, have I made worse mistakes? Yes. It was a small mistake, but it was a very costly one. It’s painful, but it doesn’t debilitate me. It is something that fuels me.
“I know it will make me a better golfer in the future.” (courtesy livgolf.com)
Also read: Garcia, Fireballs sweep Andalucia titles on historic day for Spain
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