Needing a top-10 finish on the final day of the weather-delayed The Northern Trust to advance in the FedExCup Playoffs, Anirban Lahiri settled for a share of 56th position following a final round which included four birdies and three bogeys. He was making his return into the Playoffs for the first time in three years.
Not the finish to the season I was looking for but happy with the effort. Big thank you to my team 🙏🏻 for riding the highs and lows. Time to rest up and recover. #currypower
— Anirban Lahiri (@anirbangolf) August 23, 2021
“Not the finish to the season I was looking for but happy with the effort. Big thank you to my team for riding the highs and lows. Time to rest up and recover. #currypower,” he tweeted on Monday.
The season maybe over for the 34-year-old, but there is a brighter side to it. Yet to regain full physical strength after the brush with COVID in April, Anirban spoke about in case he did not progress in the FedExCup Playoffs would allow him to look at some critical areas.
Also Read: Will memories at Liberty National aid Anirban’s last-ditch effort?
“I’ve started working again, more specifically on my fitness, trying to get stronger, also working on my biomechanics with my trainer, Ken Macdonald, who’s helped me get faster as well, but more than faster, get more efficient, which is why I might not have 120 miles of club speed, but I’m still able to get the ball out there well over 300 yards when I need to. And those things are important right now, the way the game’s moving. If you don’t have that, you’re going to find it hard to stay competitive on the PGA Tour.
“Over the next few weeks, months, my main challenge is going to be to get back to my fitness levels or maybe even better my fitness levels to pre-COVID. Get my strength and energy levels up to where they were maybe last fall when I was playing my best in the recent past and kick on from there.”
View this post on Instagram
From the Travelers Championship to The Northern Trust — throw in the Tokyo Olympics in between, it has been almost non-stop golf save the odd short break, and for one on the way to regaining full strength, managing workload was critical and Anirban is happy he has done well on that front. “My main focus has been managing my energy, managing my workload, making sure I’m getting enough practice and enough rest so I’m still fresh.”
Also Read: Asia on the rise in FedExCup Playoffs
Had he made the BMW Championship, the second event of the Playoffs this week, and to the finale Tour Championship, Anirban would have played less in the fall season. With that permutation out, Anirban will get time to recoop and come out firing.
“I’m looking to play five or six events in the fall. I always do well in the fall. I think I come out fresh and come out with a renewed sense of focus. Obviously, just the way things have been these last two years, you want to get off to a good start because you never know how deep it’s going to go.”
