Golf: Anirban Lahiri finishes tied second in Vietnam Intl Series
When Anirban Lahiri reached KN Golf Links, 400 km east of Ho Chi Minh City, for the $2 million International Series Vietnam, a painful right forearm and an impinged nerve in his neck were the least of his worries.
Two weeks earlier, his mother-in-law, battling stage four cancer, had to be rushed to hospital after her vital signs crashed. Lahiri had to pull out of LIV Invitational – Florida and rush to Pune to be by her side. The news for Lahiri and his wife, Ipsa, hasn’t improved much and he played the IS-Vietnam with a heavy heart.
Lahiri still managed to dig deep and shoot a sensational eight-under par 64 in the final round that brought him to within one shot of being in contention for his first title in eight years. A crucial birdie putt on the 18th hole by Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent denied Lahiri the chance to be in a playoff at 18-under par. He finished tied second with Australia’s Kevin Yuan.
“I did not have any expectations coming into the week. The family is going through a very challenging phase. We are just taking it one day at a time. My wife and kids are still in Pune, my mom-in-law continues to fight her battle,” said Lahiri.
He said he was practicing the week after the LIV event in Tucson when he felt he found something with his swing.
“After I withdrew from the LIV event in Orlando, I didn’t play golf for almost two weeks with everything else that was required of me. I had a couple of days just to hit some balls when I came here. But that one week I was practicing in Atlanta after Tucson with my club-fitter Rusty and some friends, I made a few tweaks in my swing. Just fundamentals, nothing more, and could feel something click.”
It took Lahiri, ranked 102nd in the world, a couple of days to adjust to the conditions in Vietnam, but the weekend was more a result of his new mentality. “I was forced to hit the refresh button, if you may say so... What happened the last few weeks made me to kind of reset and re-establish my goals, my perspectives in life,” said Lahiri.
“I came into this week just trying to enjoy my golf, just trying to get back to my fundamentals and keeping things simple. It’s been nice to have the support of my caddie Tim (Giuliano) here, and from Chikka (S Chikkarangappa) and all the Indian boys here this week.”
Lahiri shot a 67 on Saturday and started the final round at 10-under par, seven shots behind overnight leader Takumi Kanaya of Japan.
“I had some physical issues with my right forearm and a nerve impingement in my neck, but a big challenge was trying to adjust to these greens; it took me a little while to start feeling a little more comfortable. Even today, all my birdies were from inside 10 feet,” said Lahiri.
“But I felt I played well all week. I’m very happy how I managed to keep that consistency in terms of the ball striking.
“At the start of the day, I knew that if Takumi didn’t play well, the next person was at 14-under. So, in my head I was like if I can somehow get to 20 (under), I would have a chance. As it happened, Takumi did not play well and let the door open for us.
“Just a little disappointed that I had my chances to get to 20 on the closing holes but did not make any birdies... I’m happy I made a bunch of birdies over the weekend (15), and hopefully, I can take that form going forward and build on it.”
Lahiri plays in LIV Invitational in Adelaide next week.
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