HIO 2017: Anirban Lahiri off to a torrid start at the Hero Indian Open
India’s most prominent golfer, Anirban Lahiri got off to a poor start as he stumbled to a four over par- 76 in Round 1 at the DLF Golf and Country Club.
The PGA Tour player made 5 birdies, 4 bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey during his topsy-turvy round. Prior to the start he stressed on the importance of keeping the ball in the play and staying away from trouble, a plan that he unfortunately did not stick to very well.
Anirban fell prey to indecisiveness on a few shots that put him in a fix and resulted in costly mistakes. However, Anirban is known for his doggedness and could claw his way back if he starts well in Round 2.
Having no prior experience at the venue took it’s toll on his score today as he will look to work his way back up the leaderboard tomorrow.
This is what he had to say after his round:
“I’m quite disappointed actually. I was playing well at the start but a couple of times just waiting on hitting my shot threw me off my rhythm. One instance was on the 18th when I stood on the tee for a long time and couldn’t make up my mind whether to draw or cut the ball. I ended up making a bad swing there. That led to a double-bogey.”
“After the 18th, I just couldn’t find my rhythm. I couldn’t hit the right kind of shape I was looking for. I missed a bunch of greens as well. I was in a great position off the tee on the fourth, but miscalculated the wind there. This happened a couple of times with me today.”
“Another loose swing on the seventh led to a triple bogey. It was again a misjudged second shot. I misjudged the green, hit a good shot but didn’t expect it to go 20 yards further after landing on the green.”
“You just have to experience these greens. I learnt some tough lessons today the hard way. But I feel I’ve got enough in me to fight back. I’ll have to dig deep tomorrow if I have to claw back. I’ll also have to play error-free as there were a lot of errors today around the greens and off the tee. I’ll need to focus hard tomorrow and be assertive on what shot I need to hit.”
“At this course, when you do get out of position you really need to think which is the best way to save par or even make bogey sometimes. That’s what I’ll look to do from here on.
Four-under on this course is really a very good score almost as good as an eight-under. I’ve gotten myself a long way out of position now, but it’s now up to me to see what I can make of it.”