A recent 10-day trip to India to fine-tune his game with coach Vijay Divecha seems to have paid off as Anirban Lahiri, who was runner-up at THE PLAYERS Championship in March, shot a 66 for a share of the 14th position after Day 1 of the Wyndham Championship.
Lahiri had missed four of his last five cuts which prompted his trip and a closing bogey on Thursday failed to dampen his spirit.
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“I’m really excited about how I’m playing. I think I played really, really good. Putted pretty bad, to be honest, and still shot a good score. I think the time off working with my coach, going back to India, like I can feel that confidence. I’m seeing shots better, I’m hitting much, much better golf shots. Obviously you’ve got to go clean up a little bit and hopefully kind of bring it all together,” said Lahiri, who ranked fifth in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green but was 112th in the putting category.
At a venue where countryman Arjun Atwal wrote a slice of golf history by becoming the first Indian winner on the PGA TOUR in 2010, Lahiri knows there is plenty to play for especially with the FedExCup Playoffs starting next week and with the Presidents Cup International Team qualifying concluding in three weeks’ time.
He feels at home at Sedgefield, and hopes to keep up with his form to gain some momentum heading into next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of three legs in the Playoffs.
“It’s a lot like what I played growing up. Bermuda is something that comes naturally to me, although I don’t think I’ve ever played Bermuda greens as fast as this. I’ve shot some good scores here and hopefully I can just build on this,” he said.
“I’ve kind of cooled off a little bit since May. I had a good stretch going there from THE PLAYERS onward, I had some good momentum, took a break and haven’t really been able to get back to playing my best. And I’ve not played the last three weeks, that was another decision I took with just going and seeing my coach and just getting back to where I believe that when I heat up, that I can contend and I can really compete and I feel that way starting this week.”
