Lahiri at 99 in the world golf

March 12, 2014:India’s Anirban Lahiri has been lingering around to enter the elite club of top-100 in the world, and finally on Tuesday, Anirban Lahiri jumped two spots to be placed 99th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Lahiri outdid his 2006 Asian Games silver medal-winning teammate, Gaganjeet Bhullar, last October and former Asia No. 1 Jeev Milkha Singh in July. Lahiri’s consistency drove him ahead of the rest with six top-10s in 2013 and two this year. The 26-year-old was 365th at the end of 2011 and 203rd by 2012 end before finishing 2013 at 111th.

“I was close to breaching the top-100 mark since the last 2-3 months. So, I am excited to be there now. I am very happy that my consistency is showing and to get rated on a global scale is simply motivating,” Lahiri was quoted in TOI report.

[highlight]  I am very happy that my consistency is showing and to get rated on a global scale is simply motivating [/highlight]

A three-time winner on the Asian Tour, Lahiri gave consistent output in 2013. It began with a win at SAIL-SBI, he finished second at Selangor Masters, Venetian Macau Open and Hero Indian Open. The 26-year-old Bangalorean captured back-to-back titles on the home-based Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) including the year-ending McLeod Russel Tour Championship and the Ahmedabad Masters this January.

Lahiri, who missed a chance to qualify for the British Open 2014 through Asian qualifying event is banking on the European Tour co-sanctioned events – the Maybank Malaysian Open (starting from April 17 in Kuala Lumpur) and The Championship (starting in Seoul from May 1), to get an entry into coveted Major to be held in July.

“It was a bit disappointing not to do well at the Asian qualifiers. But I still have an outside chance if I enter top-60 before the end of May. For that, I will have to atleast have two top-5 finishes if not win the Malaysia and Korea events. Not having a card on the European Tour or the USPGA does limit my chances of a Major appearance but I have found a way to counter that — World Rankings. If I keep improving my ranking, I am likely to receive more invitations from various Tours,” said Lahiri, who sank a rare hole-in-one in the 2012 British Open.

If Lahiri retains his place inside the top-100 till July 27, he can see himself competing at the Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky for the PGA Championship, the final Major of the year.

“That’s one of my goals — to keep performing consistently. My coach (Vijay Devecha) has always maintained it needs hard work to get to a decent level, but it takes more to stay at that position and even more to reaching greater heights. Therefore, there are no shortcuts for me. I opted out of the Philippines event to focus on my game and prepare for the EurAsia Cup next week. Hope I can continue in the same rhythm,” he said.