By Rahul Banerji
Anirban Lahiri goes into his second LIV Golf Invitational drawn alongside the two men he had finished his debut at Boston with, Dustin Johnson and Joaquin Neimann.
The trio, who took the contest into a playoff that Johnson won with a monster eagle putt, will tee off from the first hole under the shotgun start system LIV Golf employs.
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The Chicago event, fifth on the Invitational calendar will also see the return of Henrik Stenson, a last-minute scratching at Boston with neck and vertigo issues.
Lahiri, who could not have asked for a more impactful start to his stint with the Greg Norman-fronted parallel tour, spoke recently about how much the move has suited him in more ways than one.
The 35-year-old not only shared second place alongside Chile’s Niemann, he also drove his team – Crushers GC – into second place with cards of 66, 65 and 64 at the Invitational.
Fresh spur
Lahiri’s missed eagle putt in regulation that could have won him top spot is now history, but he told the Times of India’s R. Satya that it was the team aspect of LIV Golf that had also been a new motivation.
“Once you star getting into the week, I would look at the board and not just to see how I was faring but also to see if you are contributing to the team.
“You’re not thinking you can go for broke since there’s no cut. I got to make sure my score counts, Mr teammates are dependent on me.”
With Johnson and his 4 Aces runaway leaders both in the individual and team competitions, the chasing pack will need to up their game significantly at the Rich Harvest Farms course over the weekend.
Lahiri’s Crushers, led by Bryson DeChambeau racked up their second runners-up finish at Boston and will want to go one better this time.
Besides the Indian ace, DeChambeau has the experience of Paul Casey and Charles Howell III to call on and collectively this unit can be serious challengers to the 4 Aces.
Johnson’s squad are the pace-setters with three straight team wins.
Solid group
DJ has an all-American squad that includes the red-hot Talor Gooch who finished fourth at last week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth two shots behind winner Shane Lowry.
Patrick Reed and Pat Perez provide further depth and the team are unbeaten since LIV Golf shifted to American courses.
The ones to really miss out at Boston were the Iron Heads, an all-Asian outfit led by the US’s Kevin Na.
Also including Thais Sadom Kaewkanjana, Phachara Khongwatmai and American Sihwan Kim, the Iron Heads were ahead by five shots on the final day before falling away but showed enough quality to challenge the rest of the field.
With Stenson back for the Majesticks, Lee Westwood’s team will be another squad to look out for having finished on the podium three times out of four so far, a record only bettered by the 4 Aces.
With Ian Poulter and Sam Horsfield completing the lineup, this is a quality grouping and will want to have a say come Sunday at Rich Harvest Farm
Also read: DJ is the one to chase as LIV Golfers gear up for Chicago leg
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