India’s LIV Golf star Anirban Lahiri will make a rare appearance at an European Tour event, the $4 million DP World India Championship that tees off at the Delhi Golf Club on Thursday. Image courtesy DPWIC.
By Rahul Banerji
His last win, the Hero Indian Open, came at the Delhi Golf Club in 2015. Ten years later, Anirban Lahiri is back to try and end an extended title drought at the DP World India Championship, which tees off on Thursday.
Now an established star on the LIV Golf circuit, Lahiri is still wary of the DGC and its quirks.
“You can’t try and overpower this course,” he told reporters when asked on how he planned to tackle not just the course but also a quality field at teh $4 million event.
“I don’t know if you tame it, you just make friends with it. When you can’t beat them, you join them. That’s what I tried to do.
“You can’t try and overpower this golf course. I think that was what I tried to do when I was younger and more fearless and didn’t think — I was bulletproof, so to speak.
“No, I burned myself quite a few times, missed plenty of cuts, made a lot of big numbers, and then I went back to the drawing board and kind of realised what I needed to do to play consistently.”
On his approach to the event
“I think my goal was to find a consistency on this golf course, and that eventually led to putting myself in contention and then eventually winning a number of times.
“But the whole idea for me was to try and figure out where to be aggressive, where to be conservative, and from being aggressive off the tee, to being conservative off the tee and aggressive on the second shot.
“I’ve pulled the driver out of the bag, something you’ll find a lot of players doing this week.
“I’ve had a chat with some of the caddies of my colleagues who are here for the first time, and they were picking my brain, and I’d be very surprised to see too many of the stars carrying a driver.
“But just also navigating, understanding what strategically is the best way for me to counter the challenge of DGC, which is, like I said, put myself more in play.
“I’m very excited to be back. A lot of things have changed since I last played the course. It’s undergone a beautiful renovation. I was very excited to see all the new changes.
“It’s still got a familiar feel. I think off the tee it’s still the same. But very happy and excited to be back.”
On the field
“It’s amazing to have so many Ryder Cup stars, Rory, Tommy, especially the year that Tommy has won the FedExCup, Rory has won the Grand Slam.
“You’ve got Viktor, you’ve got so many stars this week. I think it’s been a landmark year for golf aficionados in India. We have so many stars.
“We had a few earlier in the year at DLF, and now we have so many here this week. I think there’s going to be a massive buzz come tomorrow, and patrons are going to be loud on the golf course.
“Hopefully we can continue to have fantastic supporters of golf like DP World who can keep bringing such amazing fields to such iconic golf courses.
“It all bodes well for the next generation of golfers to see their idols, to see their stars live in action, to hear the ball, see the ball fly and feel excitement.”
On his mentorship programme
“It’s been a journey of nearing the completion of my second decade as a pro. I’ve seen a lot, especially in the last 10, 12 years, since moving on and playing on the higher tours in the world.
“Personally I feel a sense of responsibility, a sense of wanting to give back to golf, to a sport that’s given me everything in life.
“I came from humble origins, and I see a lot of kids out here who are exactly what I was 20 years ago.
“I’ve also seen a lot of my friends, colleagues, compatriots who have had tremendous potential, not necessarily make it to the highest levels, even though they could and should have.
“So that’s inspired me and motivated me to start my own mentorship programme, which for now will be focused on juniors and amateurs.
“Mentorship and guidance was something I was very lucky to receive myself. I think it’s my duty and the duty of all my contemporaries to pass that on to the next generation so I’m just doing my bit.
“Like I said, I hope we have more and more players over the next five, ten, 15 years who are playing on the highest tours and the majors and competing and contending.
On his being at a DP World event
“Without going too much into details, I’m very grateful and thankful to DP World, the company, the organisation, for extending this invite to me.
“I love playing at home, competing in India, in DGC, especially when the field is so good. I relish these opportunities.
“I think it was just over two months ago that my management got in touch with DP World and they were very excited to have me, so I’m very happy and grateful to DP World for extending this invite to me.
On LIV Golf’s India plans
“I’m not high enough in the organisation to be able to answer that question accurately.
“Does India feature in the long-term plans for LIV as an organisation? I think definitely.
“Evidence to that is the International Series event that happened here, and I’m sure that that’s something that’s going to continue I hope and I’m going to put my best efforts into converting that into a full-blown LIV event in the future.
“So I’m hoping it happens. Is it going to happen next year? No. We already have the schedule out. I don’t think India features in ’26. But I’m still hopeful that in the coming years we have a pit stop here.
Having said that, I think the commitment to India and growing the game here is very much there, and I think you’ll see more players and events happening here in coming years.”
On the pressure of playing at home
“You know, I want that burden. I’ve carried the responsibility of being the flag bearer now for well over a decade, so it feels natural to me.
“It’s something that I embrace and something that I’ve become used to.
“I think I’m going to thrive under pressure, if you want to call it that. I think I’m going to thrive under the energy, I’d probably use that word, and the buzz.
“For me personally, every time I’ve teed it up in DGC the last 10 or 12 times I’ve had some semblance of control. The goal has been the same: You just have to play the golf course the way it demands you to play it.
“There’s no plans C and B, there’s only a plan A and a plan B, and plan B if your plan A is not working. I just have to execute. If I do that, I should put myself in a good position on Sunday.
Also read: Star-studded lineup led by McIlroy set for DGC extravaganza
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