Anirban Lahiri’s pursuit of the PGA Card by Joy Chakravarty

Anirban Lahiri, who became the first Indian to qualify for the Presidents Cup earlier this week, has once again shown that when it comes to making career decisions, he is his own man. And because he is doing such a good job of it, it will be extremely interesting to find out how his next move turns out.

The relentless pursuit of a PGA Tour card, one which slipped through his fingers with a last-hole bogey at the PGA Championship, has taken the 27-year-old to the Web.com Finals.

Had Lahiri not made that bogey, he would have finished tied fourth instead of tied fifth, earning $72,500 more, enough to finish inside the top-125 of the Money List of this season’s PGA Tour and hence secure his card for 2015-16. He is now trying to finish in the top-25 on the money list from these four Web.com Tour events, another route to a PGA Tour card.

With the PGA Tour doing away with the Qualifying School, the Web.com Tour is the only way to get in now. The leading 25 players at the end of the Regular Season graduate, and then there is the Finals.

The Finals start this week with the Hotel Fitness Championship and concludes with the Tour Championship on October 1-4. It is a bit of a circuitous route for Lahiri, but it also shows how much he aspires to be a part of the Tour which has the world’s best golfers playing week-in and week-out.

Lahiri, now 40th in the world, is the highest ranked player in the field. Given his ranking, he is assured of playing all the majors and World Golf Championship events next season, and will also get a few invites from regular tournaments, but he wants to make sure he ties up his membership now rather than wait for another year.

And yet, there are a couple of pitfalls he has to be wary of. Because he is in the Presidents Cup, he is taking a week off before that, which means he will miss the Web.com Tour Championship. So, Lahiri will have to make enough money in the first three events to ensure he is in the top-25 in the end.

There is a chance he could be around the 20th position after three tournaments, which would be utterly frustrating. But pulling out of the biennial team event is not an option. It’s just too fantastic an opportunity to let go.

By Joy Chakravarty in special arrangement with Sport360