Anirban Lahiri: US Open at Oakmont was an invaluable experience

Anand Datla

June 19, 2016: Anirban Lahiri is a remarkably composed athlete, despite his young age. Every golf course tests the character of a golfer, but Oakmont simply claws their guts out and lays them out to dry. Despite having to play the brutal course twice in a day, Anirban believes he will benefit from the experience and hopes to return their again for another go at the US Open. You can be sure he will save his US Open notebook from the US Open this past week like a boy might his little treasure.

In this exclusive conversation with Golfing Indian, Anirban was honest in his assessment as he shared his thoughts about the invaluable experiences in Pittsburgh.

Anirban Lahiri: It is certainly a stern test of golf. Having said that It played as fair as it could given the soft conditions. Personally I made too many tactical errors and did not manage the course as well as I could have. In Oakmont your strategy is key and I came up wanting in that department. The greens were certainly quicker in the afternoon and I lost a bit of confidence after taking 4 putts on 12. That killed my momentum after recovering a bit in the end of the first round.

Were you a little worn down in the afternoon. Your driving accuracy suffered a dip in the second round ?

I was a bit low on energy having fought the flu all week. Having said that I played solid the last 7 or 8 holes of the tournament. It was the putting that was my downfall not the driving. Taking 39 putts will never help around a difficult course like Oakmont.

What are your takeaways from Oakmont this week ?

I still need to learn to putt better on faster greens. Tactically I needed to do more homework on my game-plans to different winds and pins. Hopefully I can come back in a few years and play another US Open at Oakmont, a better student.

Does a test like this help you become mentally tougher ?

Yes, definitely. It also helps you identify areas that need work because it demands proficiency in every department of your game.