BMW Open: Anirban Lahiri invited to play

June 24, 2014. Anirban Lahiri has received a tournament invitation to play at the European Tour’s BMW International Open. The € 2 mn event is scheduled to start on 26 June at the Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof just outside Cologne. Ernie Els is defending champion, having won last year with a dominant card that read 18-under 270.

“I am very excited to be playing the BMW International here in Dusseldorf. It’s my first time here so looking forward to a good beginning,” Lahiri said to golfingindian.com

Lahiri shot to fame with a string of victories on the PGTI before leaving an impression with a great run at the 2012 Open Championship. Lahiri finished T31 at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, even making a hole in one in the third round at the par-3 ninth hole.

The 27 year old is leading the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit this year, having already netted close to a quarter million dollars this season. Lahiri won the Indonesian Masters this year, besides top ten finishes at the SAIL-SBI Open, The Championship and the Malaysian Open.

Lahiri finished in T37 (3-over 287) at the recently concluded Queen’s Cup, his first event since getting married to his longtime friend  Ipsa Jamwal. The course at Gut Larchenhof is a par 72 that measures 7228 yards.

Large crowds are expected to cheer the freshly minted US Open champion, Martin Kaymer and world No.2 Henrik Stenson. The club has opened the gates for free for the first two rounds. The course was designed by Jack Nicklaus and thrown open in 1996.

Kaymer is the youngest winner of this tournament, having taken the title in 2008 as a 23 year old who was beginning to make his mark around the tour. Incidentally, Els became the oldest winner of the title when he won last year aged 43.

The title sponsor BMW has associated with the event since 1989, affording a lot of envy value to the event. No other European Tour event has managed to find a sponsor who has stuck so long with them.

Jeev Milkha Singh, Shiv Kapur and Gaganjeet Bhullar are also expected to play the event.

Anand Datla

@sportasmile