Lahiri finding his groove near adopted home, 2 shots off lead
PALM BEACH GARDENS— The sprawling city of Bangalore has gained a reputation as the Silicon Valley of India. Its population of nearly 8.4 million is high on tech savvy, low on world-class golfers.
In that regard, Anirban Lahiri fits in better in his adopted home of Palm Beach Gardens, where he is playing in his own neighborhood in this week’s Honda Classic.
At 29, the Bangalore native already stands out as 1 in 1.25 billion in his country, where cricket is king. But Lahiri wasn’t content to be a force on the Asian Tour, where he has seven career wins.
“That’s not what I strive for. I strive to play well at the majors. Obviously, you want to win out here on the [PGA] tour, you want to be competing with the best players in theworld,” Lahiri said Friday after shooting a 2-under-par 68. “Out there every week is world-class. That’s why itwas important for me to move here and compete here.”
Lahiri is off to a strong start at PGA National near the top of the leader board at 7-under after two rounds, two shots off the lead.
“It was just a matter of weather, really. I don’t do well in the cold,” said Lahiri, who moved to PGA National with his wife Ipsa after The Masters last April. “I like to go out andwork on my game, so I needed the weather to be supportive of that.”
Lahiri posted the highest finish in a major by a player from India when he ended in a tie for fifth at the PGA Championship in 2015. The same year he became the first from his country to play in the Presidents Cup.
But while he is seeking to make a splash on the world stage, Lahiri hasn’t forsaken his roots. He will travel to Dehli next week to play in the India Hero Open, which hewon in 2015.
“I definitely feel like I owe it to go back and play the Indian Open. I try to do as much as I can to grow [golf in India],” he said, adding he feels compelled to encourage interest from Indian youth. “I must reciprocate what I would have liked 10 years ago as a kid myself.”
Lahiri said he feels at home playing in Florida on Bermuda-grass greens similar to what he grew up on in Asia. His preparation for competition is different than most players here, though, with an emphasis on Vipassana meditation, which he has practiced since hewas a teenager.
“The whole purpose of meditating is to maintain your equilibrium as much as possible,” he said. “I think that’s what helps in golf. If you can do that your heart rate doesn’t go up when you make four birdies in a row and you’re not breaking clubs if you make a double.”
Koepka boils over
Perhaps meditation could have aided another Palm Beach County resident, Brooks Koepka, prior to a tempestuous round that led to an early exit below the cut line.
Koepka, starting on the back nine, found trouble immediately Friday with a triple-bogey 7 on No. 10. After his tee shot landed close to a tree, he had little room to swing and banged his club on the trunk, barely advancing the ball one yard.
Bogeys on four of the next six holes further soured Koepka’s round. After another errant tee shot veered off the fairway, he slammed his drive on the turf and snapped off the head of the club. Later, he was in no mood to talk about his 8-over 78 as he brushed aside media requests.
Palmer’s burden
Ryan Palmer, co-leader after two rounds, has dealt with considerable adversity since finishing second in a four-man playoff in the 2014 Honda.
The next year he lost his father in a SUV-rollover accident near his hometown of Amarillo, Texas. Then last July his wife Jennifer was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer.
She still faces five radiation treatments, but the Palmerswere elated by a recent clean quarterly mammogram.
Golf has helped balance the harsh realities for Ryan, who said, “You kind of get away. It helps. Makes golf less aggravating at times. You realize it’s just a game we’re playing, but it is what I do.”