Lahiri Buoyed by Confident Dominican Republic Display
2 min read

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: Anirban Lahiri enjoyed his first top-10 on the PGA Tour in nearly two years with a tied-sixth finish at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.

The 33-year-old Indian closed with a two-under 70 which included four birdies against two bogeys to finish on 13-under 275, five shots behind winner Hudson Swafford.

It was Lahiri’s first top-10 result since the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico in November, 2018 and has earned him a starting spot at the upcoming Sanderson Farms Championship.

Such was his confidence entering the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship that instead of booking a return flight to his home base in Florida, he registered for a seat on the charter plane to the Sanderson Farms Championship, even though he was ninth reserve when entries closed last Friday.

“I felt really good after my first event in Napa (Safeway Open). I had two really good rounds to finish that event, so I got it rolling here. I managed to build that snowball effect and build some momentum. Hopefully I use this going forward and keep this going and maybe even play a little better,” said Lahiri, who finished tied 36th in the Safeway event after opening with a 74.

“I booked myself on the charter because I backed myself to do this,” said Lahiri, who did not have the best of starts in the Dominican Republic, going four-over through his opening three holes on Thursday before fighting back for an opening 69. He followed it up with a 72 before lighting up the course with a flawless 64 on Saturday which pushed him up the leaderboard.

“The last couple of seasons, I’ve been very disappointing, and where I find myself in my eligibility is not great, so I need to play myself into some of the events that I like to play. I have a lot of opportunities in the fall that I need to take and build on that. Hopefully get closer to being in contention on Sunday. I’ve had outside chances, but the goal is to get to the last few with a realistic chance or maybe even a lead,” said Lahiri.

China’s Zhang Xinjun, who started the final round in fourth position, endured a disappointing closing 74 to finish tied 11th, his second top-15 finish of the 2020-21 PGA Tour season. He shared 14th place at the Safeway Open two weeks ago.