Indian golf star plays practice round with Tiger Woods ahead of PGA . Championship

Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri’s week continued to get better even before he hit tee in the opening round of the PGA Championship as he practiced alongside legendary Tiger Woods. Lahiri, who will appear at the Major in nearly three years, made the belated decision to head to the Southern Hills, pending the arrival of her second child. He then went to Southern Hills on Tuesday and when he got to the field for a practice round on Wednesday, he found Woods with no one else. The 15-time Major champion asked the Indians if they could play together. Lahiri could hardly believe this luck.

Lahiri said, “I went to the first tee and there were some players there, me and Tiger were standing around. playing together) and why did I turn down that invitation! It was just random, it was accidental.” Woods played nine holes before he left and then Lahiri had to play nine holes with Bryson DeChambeau, who later withdrew because his hand was still unwell after an operation.

“I had a really fun day, an interesting day. It was quite a surprise,” Lahiri said.

“I got home late last night and to be honest, I haven’t slept much in the last couple of days. I’m just going to work and I know he usually practices in the morning because every time Tiger majors, the crowd permits. you. know where he is,” Lahiri said.

Lahiri had played once with Woods on three holes when the American superstar flew to New Delhi in 2014 for a flight. But since competing on the PGA TOUR in 2016, Indians have had the opportunity to get to know the 82-time PGA TOUR winner over time.

“Every time I see him, we say hi and chat. I don’t really golf with him much, so actually going out and playing nine holes, a cold day is fun. He’s very laid back. and very friendly, and we talked a lot about our mutual interests including Arjun (Atwal), Jeev (Milkha Singh) and Hero (MotoCorp).

“He’s clearly talked about the changes to the Southern Hills since he was last here and it’s good to get insights into how he sees it on some of the holes,” said Lahiri. speak.

Lahiri nearly withdrew from the event because his wife, Ipsa, was expecting their second child. He has decided to withdraw if the baby does not come by Tuesday.

But his son Avyaan saved him from the dilemma by arriving ahead of time to join the family. Lahiri also has an older daughter.

Once all is well, it’s time to prepare at the last minute. Then came the completely unexpected opportunity to play against Woods, who won the Southern Hills in 2007 for one of his four PGA Championship titles.

Woods left the field after nine holes and Lahiri was then joined by DeChambeau’s long shot on the back nine.

Chambeau then withdrew from the tournament as he was still recovering from a hand injury.

“He (DeChambeau) was swinging at 60% and still flying 320 yards, it was unbelievable what he did with the speed and distance. It was really shocking,” Lahiri said.

“I joked with my caddy that we had a day where we did it all. We showed up and then played with Tiger and number 9 came back with Bryson. I was trying to draw all the time. I’m on the golf course. We’re all back.” Lahiri, who finished fifth in the 2015 PGA Championship, is in fine form after finishing second at THE PLAYERS Championship, the PGA TOUR’s flagship tournament.

Since then, he has completed T13, T66, T15 and T6 and rose to 47th on the FedExCup scoring list and 12th on the International Team leaderboard to compete in the Presidents Cup at the end of the year. now.

He said Southern Hills reminds him of some golf courses in Thailand, but knows this week’s challenges will be on the putting surface.

“This golf course is all about the green complex. You have to orient yourself and position yourself. If you have enough strength and length, great.

“Otherwise you can still play and compete and that’s why I think it’s a good big venue because everyone has a chance to win. It’s not about one style of play, ” I said.

“It’s like something you can play in Thailand in terms of the surface because it’s the common Bermuda grass. Obviously the green grass is a curvy and very harsh grass. Much of it will be about controllability. Vortex and flight control.

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“The playing field is extremely solid and I’m trying to figure out how far it will go after it hits the ground. Even on par 5 can you have an 8-iron rolling 60 yards if it lands? right place.

“I’m really glad I had the whole day to watch the golf course and prepare for my job.” Lahiri plays with KH Lee, who last week defended his title at AT&T Byron Nelson, and Tim Feenstra at 12.36 pm local time.