By Rahul Banerji
A month after his disappointing return from injury at Augusta National, Tiger Woods is back for the PGA Championship in Tulsa, and feeling stronger.
Tiger is no longer the dominant golfer he was and the car accident that almost saw him lose a foot has nobbled him further, but he is still very much the man in the spotlight.
Scottie Scheffler may have won the Masters, is the world number 1 player in the worlds, leader in the FedEx Cup stakes and all, but he is still very much under the radar at Southern Hills.
“Tiger’s here, so no one remembers I’m here. It’s all good,” he said on Tuesday.
There are a million stories around the event. Defending champion Phil Mickelson has dropped out a year after becoming the oldest major winner ever.
The Saudi-backed LIV tour is threatening deep inroads into the existing golf tours.
A resurgent Jordan Speith is at the PGA Championship looking to complete a career Grand Slam. Jon Rahm has travelled with a win three weeks ago under his belt.
Side show
But that’s all a side show. Tiger Woods is in town.
Another golfer flying under the radar at Southern Hills was Anirban Lahiri.
With son Avyaan making a safe – and early arrival – Lahiri flew quietly into Tulsa on Tuesday, far from the bright lights and fan attention.
Till Wednesday that is, when he was joined in a practice round by Tiger.
Suddenly, India’s star on the PGA Tour had fans looking on six rows deep around the tees and fairways.
There couldn’t have been a better return to the public eye.
Lahiri, who is making his first major appearance in nearly three years, found himself in the company of the 15-time major champion as he put together some last-minute preparation.
Tapping into the thoughts of one of the greatest golfers of all time was timely, considering that Woods had won at Southern Hills in 2007 for one of his four PGA Championship wins, the Tour said.
“I had a really fun day, interesting day. It was quite the surprise,” said Lahiri.
The 34-year-old arrived at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma only on Tuesday night after being with his wife, Ipsa, who delivered their second child on Monday.
Surprise pairing
By chance, Lahiri ended up alongside Woods on the first tee box the next morning.
“Got in late last night and honestly, I’ve not gotten much sleep the last few days.
“I was just going about my work and I know he normally practices in the morning because every time Tiger is at a major, the crowds let you know where he’s at,” said Lahiri.
“I headed to the first tee and there were a few players there, and me and Tiger were standing around.
“There were some confusion as to who was going and it was then just me and Tiger, and he asked me (to play together) and why would I ever say no to that invitation! It was just random, it was serendipity.”
Lahiri has played once previously with Woods over three holes when the American superstar jetted into New Delhi in 2014 for a flying visit.
But since competing on the PGA Tour from 2016, he has had the chance to the know the 82-time PGA TOUR winner over time even though both are backed in ther own ways by Hero MotoCorp.
“Every time I see him, we say hello and we chat. I actually haven’t played much golf with him, so to actually go out and play nine holes, kind of have a chill day was a lot of fun.
Common interests
“He was super relaxed and very friendly, and we talked a lot about our common interests including Arjun (Atwal), Jeev (Milkh Sigh), and Hero (MotoCorp).
“He obviously talked about the changes to Southern Hills since he was last here and it was good to get insights on how he sees it on some of the holes,” said Lahiri.
To cap off his preparation, Lahiri was then joined by long-hitting Bryson DeChambeau on the back nine when Woods peeled off.
Chambeau later withdrew from the tournament as he is still recovering from a hand injury.
“He (DeChambeau) was swinging at 60 percent and still flying it 320 yards, it’s just incredible what he’s managed to do with speed and distance. It was really shocking,” said Lahiri.
“I was joking with my caddie that we had a day where we kind of did it all. We show up and then play with Tiger and the back nine with Bryson.
“All the time, I was trying to soak up what the golf course is all about.”
Lahiri, who finished tied fifth in the 2015 PGA Championship, is enjoying a good run of form following his runner-up finish at the Players Championship.
Since then, he has finished T13, T66, T15 and T6 and risen to 47th place on the FedEx Cup points list and 12th on the International Team rankings to play in the Presidents Cup later this year.
He said Southern Hills reminded him of some of the golf courses in Thailand, but knows the challenges this week will be on the putting surfaces.
Tough challenge
“This golf course is all about the green complexes. You have to navigate yourself and position yourself. If you have power and length, great.
“If you don’t, you can still compete and contend and that’s why I think it’s such a good major venue as everyone has a chance to win this. It doesn’t heavily favour one style of play,” he said.
“It is a lot like something you might play in Thailand in terms of surfaces as it’s common Bermuda grass.
“Obviously the greens are bent grass and very severe. A lot of it will be about controlling spin and controlling flight.
“The course is extremely firm, and I was trying to figure out how far it’s going after it hits the ground.
“Even when laying up on the par 5s, you can have an 8 iron rolling 60 yards if it lands at the wrong place. I’m really glad I had the whole day to look at the golf course and get my prep work in.”
While Tiger is paired with Speith and Rory McIlroy for the opening two rounds, Lahiri will play alongside last week’s Byron Nelson winner K.H. Lee of Korea and American Tim Feenstra,
Also read: Lahiri excited to be back in a major after baby Avyaan arrives early
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