Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, United States: Indian Anirban Lahiri is 25 holes away from the victory he so craves after seizing a one-shot lead at The Players Championship, which will conclude at TPC Sawgrass on Monday.
Lahiri holds a slender advantage over Americans Harold Varner III and Tom Hoge on nine-under through 11 holes of his third round which was suspended at 7.32 pm on Sunday due to darkness following multiple weather disruptions since Thursday.
Chasing a maiden victory in the PGA Tour’s flagship US$20 million tournament, the 34-year-old will resume his round on Monday at 8 am local time, with the final round scheduled soon after.
Lahiri is aiming to become only the second Indian after Arjun Atwal to win on the PGA Tour (2010 Wyndham Championship) and the third Asian golfer after Koreans KJ Choi (2011) and Kim Si-woo (2017) to win The Players.
“Who doesn’t want to win The Players Championship?” Lahiri said after snaring six birdies against a lone bogey in 11 holes of his third round before the siren blew to mark the suspension of play.
“You just don’t know. You grind away, you keep chipping away, you keep working on your game, and when it clicks, it clicks. It could be this week, it could be next week. As long as it happens, and that’s the belief you’ve got to have, and that’s the commitment you’ve got to have.
“I’m just happy that I’m playing well. I’m just happy that I’m hitting my irons well. When you are in that state of mind, you usually play well, and that’s what’s happening.”
Lahiri has multiple wins in Asia, including two DP World Tour titles which he achieved in 2015. A two-time International Team player at the Presidents Cup, the Indian has played full time on the PGA Tour since 2016. He has a career best finish of tied second at the 2017 Memorial Tournament and 12 other top-10s through 153 starts on Tour.
He has struggled with his form in recent times, his last top-10 coming at the Barbasol Championship last July. This season, he has missed seven cuts from 12 starts. In five appearances at The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, he has four missed cuts to go with a tied 74th finish in 2019.
However, he is upbeat ahead of what promises to be a gruelling Monday.
“It’s been great – nice to catch the good side of the draw. Going to bed last night I was a bit scared how cold it was going to be (Sunday). I’m not used to playing temperatures sub-40, and I did struggle a little bit when I came out (to resume his second round). It was nice to just get back into a good process and a good rhythm,” he said.
The slightest of change made to his equipment this week – adding 3.5 grams of weight to his irons – has made a huge difference. The Indian has struck his irons beautifully and currently ranks fourth on Strokes Gained: Approach the Green after entering the week ranked a 212th in the stat category for the season.
“I’m just being in the moment right now. I’m really happy, I’m confident. The ball seems to be coming out in front of me, which hasn’t happened that much in the past. I’m just going to try and do the same thing: fire at pins that I’m comfortable with and clubs that I’m comfortable with. When I get an uncomfortable shot then just respect it and try and make a putt. I think that’s all I can do,” said Lahiri.
Asked what a victory at the Tour’s richest tournament would mean to him and India, Lahiri said: “It would definitely be a career highlight. This is the next thing to winning a Major, I would say.”