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he past month of golf has been life changing for Anirban Lahiri, in the stretch of three weeks he has won two European Tour tournaments, the Maybank Malaysian Open and the Hero Indian Open and both victories have come in dramatic fashion.The Indian Open was an absolute humdinger; the

outcome could not have been predicted by even the most seasoned pundits. Anirban Lahiri was seven shots adrift of leader SSP Chowrasia after three days of play and had to mount nothing short a of blitzkrieg to have any real chance of winning the tournament. The fi nal round of the Indian Open was one of the toughest in recent history, blustering winds made the narrow fairways of Delhi Golf Club seem like alleyways and landing on them was no mean task. Owing to the tough scoring conditions the race towards the fi nish line became a battle of attrition, as most of the front runners were unable to cope with the gale speed winds and shot high numbers. The tough conditions played to Anirban’s advantage and he shot a round of two under par to secure a historical play-off victory over SSP Chowrasia, thus cementing his place in the annals of Indian Golf. Anirban’s ability was never in doubt, but the sheer speed of his ascension in golfi ng echelons is startling; in the last ten months he has moved up from outside the top hundred in world rankings up to number thirty four, amassed two victories each on the European Tour and Asian Tour and one on the PGTI. To put his achievements in context it would be prudent to list some of the players who trail

ANIRBAN LAHIRIThe Juggernaut rolls!

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Anirban in the Offi cial World Golf Rankings; former world number one Luke Donald , major champions Webb Simpson, Jason Dufner, Angel Cabrera ,Geoff Ogilvy and golfi ng god Tiger Woods as well!His phenomenal play has virtually sealed his place in all of this year’s major championships, including an invite to the fabled Masters Tournament, in addition he would also compete in the lucrative World Golf Championship events. His performances have put him in rarifi ed air and, he has regularly gone toe to toe with golfi ng giants such as Lee Westwood, Victor Dubuisson and Ernie Els and has come out with honors even. The most encouraging part of Anirban’s ascendancy is that we have only seen but glimpses of his talent. Under the tutelage of his coach Vijay Divecha, Anirban has grown as a player each year and the improvements in his game have followed a linear path; a rarity in Professional Golf, where ebb and fl ow in a player’s form are commonplace. A focused mind

Anirban’s recent exploits have been attributed to his booming drives and deft touch, but his real weapon is something which is not as

perceptible; his Zen-like focus; an ability that he constantly works on “I believe that the mental strength is the main differentiator among the top fi fty players in the world, as everybody has a great golf game. I realized that if I was to compete globally I would need to work on the mental aspects of the game. Vipasana and Meditation have helped handle tournament pressure and perform when it matters most”Coming of age

Improvements in the mental game have resulted in consistent results for Anirban. On the Asian Tour, his scoring average has improved with each successive year since 2010 and in the same stretch his dominance on the domestic pro tour has been absolute; he has won thirty nine percent of the events that he has entered in

FEATURE

by Shaurya Singh

G o l f P l u s M A R C H 2 0 1 4 4 1

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(9 wins from 23 starts) and more than half of his victories have been by a margin of fi ve shots or more! This is quite a feat considering the depth of talent on the PGTI.Not letting up

Not known for resting on his laurels, after his momentous victory at the Maybank Malaysian Open Anirban took minimal time-off to refl ect or celebrate, and in the subsequent week fi nished 21st on the European Tour’s True Thailand classic before winning at the Hero Indian Open. Such hunger for victories is going to serve him well, as in the upcoming weeks as he will be playing some really big events.The Augusta Masters is around the corner and the usual suspects are a shadow of their former self; Phil Mickleson’s famed short

game seems to desert him without notice, Tiger Woods’ golf game does exactly the same but, this time Augusta National is going to open its gates for a new contender ; a young man from Bangalore, who along with his swashbuckling game would also be carrying the hopes of an entire nation; A nation that would stay up late at night and watch as he strides across Hogan’s bridge and jousts with Amen’s corner.