Indian Open 2015: The Miracle Chip

The miracle at the 17th hole that gave Anirban Lahiri a shot at the Indian Open title

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Anirban Lahiri is set to live a dream at the Masters this week

 

By Champika Sayal, Secretary General of WGAI

 

March 11, 2015: Walking alongside players as an enthusiastic spectator, during the four rounds at the Delhi Golf Club last month, it was difficult to believe that SSP Chowrasia would not wear the crown at the 1.5 million dollar Hero Indian Open Golf Championship 2015. The seasoned golfer showed his mettle through the first 54 holes, with his closest contender being from Bangladesh.

 

A regular on India’s PGTI tour, Siddikur Rahman was being frequently mistaken for Chowrasia due to the similarity in their demeanour. He displayed a high level of confidence for 54 holes. Chowrasia showed fire in the belly, chasing a much required win to secure his European Tour card.

 

Walking and talking to fellow aficionados during the game during the 2nd and 3rd rounds, I expressed my gut feeling quite candidly in favour of Anirban Lahiri. He had worked his way to seven under going out on the 3rd day’s play. After a bad double bogey on the treacherous 13th hole, Lahiri further dropped his position and finished the day at five under par.

 

Convincing several more of my fellow spectators that I had placed a paltry sum of Indian Rupees Two hundred on Anirban Lahiri winning the title the following day, all I received were snide smiles and a lot of luck for my money!

 

Through sixteen holes of the last round, the overnight leaders slowly frayed shots. Numbers were slowly adding up. Several players including Marcus Fraser and Siddikur played musical chairs on the leaderboard before sliding down.

 

The sun weakened, anxiety peaked amongst spectators who had their share of deep breaths as the leader group walked towards the 17th green at Delhi Golf Club. It was a par-3 where Lahiri had hit small trouble. I watched in hope; nodding my head in dismay even as I almost accepted that my Rupees Two hundred had gone. It appeared that the HERO sponsored Anirban Lahiri would only have a top 5 finish.

 

I was happily wrong though, when Lahiri holed out his chip and made a par with that miracle chip shot on the penultimate hole of the tournament. That moment laid the foundation for a turnaround that saw Lahiri start favourite in the ensuing playoff, which he went on to win over a listless Chawrasia.

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