September 20, 2016: Anirban Lahiri is likely to be back in action this week, after a short time away to nurse his shoulder back into shape. The 88th ranked Indian was compromised in the PGA Championship and the Rio Olympics, playing as he did through pain and discomfort. After a busy season in his first full year on the PGA TOUR, Anirban was to return at the Italian Open last week, but gave it a miss for some more rest.
There is no guarantee that he might play the Porsche European Open, but he will be back in action sooner, rather than later. The Macau Open and the CIMB Classic are also on his schedule in the coming weeks.
Though Anirban made the cut in 16 of 21 starts this season, he has been far from happy with his results. The golfer from Bengaluru sets himself high standards and nothing short of a maiden PGA TOUR victory would have given the golfer a sense of satisfaction.
But Anirban is known to recover well from difficult situations and the sense of disappointment will only spur him to greater heights in the months to come. He will certainly look to use the experience gained this year to try and work towards greater consistency and better performances.
Anirban finished T6 in the Fort Worth Invitational at the end of May, to record his best finish on the PGA TOUR. The 29 year old showed remarkable resilience to constantly battle through to most tournament weekends, despite struggling with both driving accuracy and greens in regulation.
Anirban was ranked 153rd in driving accuracy (544/966), with his average at just 56%. He also had to make do with making just 62% greens in regulation (781/1242), 163rd among PGA TOUR professionals.
He posted one top ten finish and was twice inside the top 25 in his first full year on the PGA TOUR. Anirban earned $835,171 for his work on the TOUR this year. The Indian also moved home to Florida with his wife Ipsa Jamwal Lahiri.
The PGA TOUR kicks off in October, with a wraparound set of events through to December, leading into the Christmas and New Year break. Anirban’s first full season will have given the golfer much needed inputs for a second assault in 2017. Expect a strong showing next year from the gritty golfer.
