India’s Anirban Lahiri is hoping to make up for his disappointing stretch from The Open to the PGA Championship last year, when he was stricken by a bout of chicken pox and could not capitalize on his first chance to impress the golfing world.
The 28-year-old did grab headlines at the 2012 Open in Royal Lytham and St Anne’s, where he made a hole-in-one and finished tied-31st in his first attempt, but missed the cut in the last two majors of 2014.
He played the Open at Royal Liverpool with fever, and his preparations for Valhalla took a hit as he was quarantined at home for nearly 10 days because of chicken pox.
Now hale and hearty and a multiple winner on the European Tour this year apart from leading the Asian Tour Order of Merit, Lahiri is thrilled at the prospect of his first outing at the Old Course.
“This is my first time in St Andrews and I already like how the course sets itself up. It’s nice to be here and you want to be here as often as you can,” says Lahiri, who has his entire family and coach Vijay Divecha along with him this week.
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“Here you have to hit to the left on most holes to avoid trouble and that suits my game because I tend to hit to the left more. Right-to-left is my natural shot shape.
“It was disappointing what happened at the Open last year, but I cannot keep thinking about that. As an athlete I have got to accept that I am not a Superman. I will get injured, and I will be sick at times.”
Lahiri plays his first two rounds along with George Coetzee and Rafa Cabrera-Bello.
