Anirban Lahiri

Anirban Lahiri (born 29 June 1987) is an Indian professional golfer who currently plays on the Asian Tour and PGA Tour.

Anirban Lahiri
Personal information
Born (1987-06-29) 29 June 1987
Pune, India
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Nationality India
ResidencePalm Beach Gardens, Florida, U.S.
Spouse
Ipsa Jamwal Lahiri
(m. 2014)
Children1
Career
Turned professional2007
Current tour(s)Asian Tour
PGA Tour
Former tour(s)European Tour
Professional Golf Tour of India
Professional wins18
Highest ranking33 (29 March 2015)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour2
Asian Tour7 (Tied 9th all time)
Other12
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT42: 2016
PGA ChampionshipT5: 2015
U.S. OpenCUT: 2015, 2016, 2019
The Open ChampionshipT30: 2015
Achievements and awards
Professional Golf Tour of India
Order of Merit winner
2009
Asian Tour
Order of Merit
2015

Early life

Lahiri learned to play golf at the age of eight from his father, Dr. Tushar Lahiri, a physician with the armed forces who was also a recreational golfer. "I would just go out there and I would go pick up golf balls for him, and we would go chip, putt for 15 minutes because it was getting dark," Lahiri remembers. "That's how it all started."[2]

Professional career

Lahiri joined the Asian Tour in 2008. He picked up his first victory in 2011 at the Panasonic Open and his second victory in 2012 at the SAIL-SBI Open. His best finish on the Order of Merit came in 2014 with his maiden overseas win on the Asian Tour - CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters which he later followed up with another one at the Venetian Macau Open . He finished 3rd on the Order of Merit in 2013.

Lahiri broke into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in March 2014 following a consistent season which included two victories on the Asian Tour.

Lahiri has also had a lot of success on the Professional Golf Tour of India, where he has won eleven events and the Order of Merit in 2009.

The big break came for him when qualified for his maiden major tournament – the 2012 Open Championship at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire. He made it a most memorable outing, first by making the cut (68-72) and then with a hole-in-one at the par-3 9th hole in the third round en route to a T31 finish.

In February 2015, Lahiri claimed his first official win on the European Tour at the Maybank Malaysian Open, with a one stroke victory over Bernd Wiesberger. He shot a 10-under-par round of 62 during the third round to position himself going into the final day and came from four shots behind to prevail by one shot. Later the same month, Lahiri won his second event on the European Tour in his home country of India, at the Hero Indian Open. He came from seven strokes behind in the final round to force a playoff with Shiv Chawrasia, which he won with a birdie on the first extra hole. The two wins shot Lahiri into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking qualifying him for the 2015 Masters Tournament. He was labelled as a "rookie to watch" and the "new face of Indian golf." He is the third Indian national to play in the Masters,[3] after Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal.[4] He made the cut at his first appearance and ended the tournament with scores of 71-75-74-72 on his four rounds, leaving him tied for 49th with Jason Dufner.[5]

In August 2015 at the PGA Championship which took place at Whistling Straits, Lahiri posted rounds of 70-67-70-68 for a score of −13. Despite a bogey at the 72nd hole, Lahiri finished in a tie for fifth place in the tournament and set a new record for the highest finish by an Indian professional golfer in a major.[6] The top five finish on Sunday capped a memorable week in Wisconsin for Lahiri, whose performance catapulted him to 38th in the world golf ranking.[7] He also won the PGA of America's pre-tournament long-drive contest on the Tuesday, hitting a 327-yard drive that won him a traditional gold money clip and a $25,000 charitable donation in his name. His performance set multiple records for an Indian golfer; he became the first Indian to shoot sub-par scores in all four rounds in a major, his total of 13-under was the best relative to par by an Indian at any major and his five-under 67 in the second round was also the best round by an Indian at any major.[8]

Lahiri was named to the 2015 Presidents Cup squad, the first player from India to earn the honor. Lahiri attempted to qualify for the PGA Tour through the 2015 Web.com Tour Finals after earning enough non-member points to qualify. He was the highest-ranked player in the Finals, 40th at the start of the four-event tournament. Lahiri only played in the first two events, but earned enough for a PGA Tour card. He notched his first top-10 of the 2016 PGA Tour season with a T-6 finish at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational.

Lahiri also qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics, earning a spot in the field of 60 players to compete at the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro. He also led for the first time after 54 holes in a PGA Tour event during the CIMB Classic in 2017, finishing T-3. He would go on to achieve his best PGA Tour finish of T-2 at the 2017 Memorial Tournament. Lahiri was once again named in the 2017 Presidents Cup team. Lahiri finished the 2017 PGA Tour season finishing a career high 51st in the FedEx Cup standings. In the 2018 PGA Tour season, Lahiri shot his lowest round on the PGA Tour, a 61 at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier.[9] His best finish was a T-5 at the CJ Cup in the 2018 PGA Tour season. Anirban struggled in the 2019 season and ended up losing his PGA Tour card by finishing outside the top 125 of the FedEx Cup. He gained his PGA Tour card back for the 2020 season through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals by finishing 10th in the overall standing.[10]

Personal

Lahiri is a resident of Bangalore, India. He is of Bengali descent, and he speaks Bengali but also speaks Punjabi in addition to English. "I'm really proud of the fact that I'm a more national Indian, so to speak—I’m equally comfortable with different languages, cultures, foods. I think that's one of the aspects of being an army kid. It is one thing that is common among almost every army brat. It’s almost like we are a culture of our own."[11] In May 2014, he married his long-time partner, Ipsa Jamwal. His personal interests include listening to music and computer gaming.[12]

Professional wins (18)

European Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 8 Feb 2015 Maybank Malaysian Open1 −16 (70-72-62-68=272) 1 stroke Bernd Wiesberger
2 22 Feb 2015 Hero Indian Open1 −7 (73-65-70-69=277) Playoff Shiv Chawrasia

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2015 Hero Indian Open Shiv Chawrasia Won with birdie on first extra hole

Asian Tour wins (7)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 9 Apr 2011 Panasonic Open −13 (65-71-68-71=275) Playoff Manav Jaini, Mardan Mamat
2 25 Feb 2012 SAIL-SBI Open1 −14 (65-69-67-73=274) Playoff Prom Meesawat
3 9 Mar 2013 SAIL-SBI Open (2) −15 (71-68-66-68=273) Playoff Rashid Khan
4 27 Apr 2014 CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters −17 (70-69-64-68=271) 1 stroke Baek Seuk-hyun, Cameron Smith
5 26 Oct 2014 Venetian Macau Open −17 (61-73-67-66=267) 1 stroke Scott Hend, Prom Meesawat
6 8 Feb 2015 Maybank Malaysian Open2 −16 (70-72-62-68=272) 1 stroke Bernd Wiesberger
7 22 Feb 2015 Hero Indian Open2 −7 (73-65-70-69=277) Playoff Shiv Chawrasia

1Co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India
2Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

Asian Tour playoff record (4–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2011 Panasonic Open Manav Jaini, Mardan Mamat Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2012 SAIL-SBI Open Prom Meesawat Won after concession on first extra hole
3 2013 SAIL-SBI Open Rashid Khan Won with birdie on first extra hole
4 2015 Hero Indian Open Shiv Chawrasia Won with birdie on first extra hole
5 2016 Venetian Macao Open Pavit Tangkamolprasert Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Professional Golf Tour of India wins (12)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
127 Sep 2009Haryana Open−10 (69-69-71-69=278)1 stroke Chinnaswamy Muniyappa
28 Nov 2009BILT Open−20 (66-65-66-71= 268)7 strokes Naman Dawar
314 May 2010PGTI Players Championship−24 (65-65-67-67=264)6 strokes Shamim Khan
42 July 2010Aircel PGTI Players Championship−21 (65-68-67-67=267)6 strokes Himmat Rai
530 Oct 2010BILT Open−11 (68-68-71-70=277)4 strokes Amardip Singh Malik
611 Feb 2011Aircel PGTI Players Championship (Tollygunge)−18 (68-65-65-64=270)8 strokes Rashid Khan, Jyoti Randhawa
72 Apr 2011Aircel PGTI Players Championship (Panchkula)−14 (72-65-70-67=274)2 strokes Mukesh Kumar
825 Feb 2012SAIL-SBI Open1−14 (65-69-67-73=274)Playoff Prom Meesawat
928 Jun 2013PGTI Players Championship−10 (71-67-68-72=278)Playoff Shamim Khan
105 Jul 2013PGTI Eagleburg Open−20 (73-62-64-69=268)5 strokes S. Chikkarangappa
1129 Dec 2013McLeod Russel Tour Championship−17 (66-71-65-69=271)4 strokes Rahil Gangjee
121 Feb 2014PGTI Ahmedabad Masters−14 (64-70-71-69=274)6 strokes Rahil Gangjee

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
[13]

Results in major championships

Tournament 2012201320142015201620172018
Masters Tournament T49 T42
U.S. Open CUT CUT
The Open Championship T31 CUT T30 T68 CUT CUT
PGA Championship CUT T5 CUT 75 CUT
Tournament 2019
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00000022
PGA Championship00011152
U.S. Open00000030
The Open Championship00000063
Totals000111167
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2015 Open – 2016 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top 10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 20152016201720182019
The Players Championship CUT CUT CUT T74
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order before 2015.

Tournament20142015201620172018
Championship T71 T28
Match Play T34 T28
Invitational T53 T33 T6
Champions T28 T40
  Did not play
  Top 10

"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. "Week 13 2015 Ending 29 Mar 2015" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  2. "Next Step for Anirban Lahiri, India's Top Golfer: U.S. Debut". The New York Times. 4 March 2015.
  3. "Augusta Masters 2015: Five Rookies to Watch". NDTV Sports. 6 April 2015. Archived from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  4. "What does Lahiri do on an average day? Makes a cut at Masters!". The Tribune. 12 April 2015.
  5. "The Masters Leaderboard". Golfweek. 12 April 2015.
  6. Ballengee, Ryan (16 August 2015). "Anirban Lahiri notches best major finish by an Indian player". Yahoo Sports.
  7. "Anirban Lahiri". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  8. "Anirban Lahiri back in World's Top-40, certain for President's Cup". ZNews. 17 August 2015.
  9. "Anirban Lahiri – Profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  10. "KFT Finals (Excludes Top 25)". PGA Tour. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  11. "Indian Golfer Anirban Lahiri's Life Lessons". The Wall Street Journal. 15 January 2015.
  12. "Anirban Lahiri profile". Asian Tour.
  13. "Anirban Lahiri profile". Professional Golf Tour of India.
  14. Asian Junior Golf Team Championship Archived 27 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Briefs – India finish 12th
  16. Eisenhower Trophy (World Amateur Team Championship) Archived 27 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  17. Always aiming higher
  18. Nomura Cup (Asia Pacific Amateur Team Golf Championship) Archived 27 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
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