Lahiri returns to Bermuda, hopes to make up for last year's injury-driven withdrawal
Southampton Parish [Bermuda], October 28 (ANI): Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri is back for another crack at the Bermuda Championship, the event where he liked the course.
A year ago, Lahiri seemed to be going fine after an opening round of 66 at the Bermuda Championship. He was under par for the second round before a side strain late in the round saw him finish bogey-bogey for a 73. He made the cut but decided to withdraw from the event to recover.
"Some work left unfinished. It's a pretty nice golf course. It's unique. Obviously, the biggest challenge here is the wind and I consider myself to be a pretty good wind player. I've had a lot of good results at windy venues and the grasses are tropical, so it's a lot like what I'm used to playing, primarily Bermuda," said Lahiri about his outing at the event, which made its debut on the PGA Tour last year.
"So to that extent, I feel quite comfortable. Last year I was playing really well, played really good. I had come up on another big break and put a lot of preparation in, so it was unfortunate that I got hurt, but up until that point of time, I felt really comfortable on the golf course. Hopefully, I'll feel the same way this year when I get started and I'm looking forward to it," he added.
Lahiri will be among the early starters as he tries to make up for the pain of withdrawing midway through the same Bermuda Championship last year. He will play with Scott Stallings and Wyndham Clark in the second group in the morning wave off the first tee at Port Royal Golf Course.
Also in the field is Arjun Atwal, who returns to action after four weeks and he will play alongside Aaron Baddeley and Ben Martin.
On his season so far, Lahiri, who came to India for the Hero Indian Open and then stayed on as travel restrictions kicked in, added, "I played after a long break. I think it's been a bit of a mixed bag. I've obviously had one good result and a couple of average results. I think I have had a few loose holes every event or one bad round or mediocre round every event. But there's been a lot of good golf and a lot of birdies and a lot of other positives as well."
"Barring one day out of the three events that I played, my putting's been pretty solid. More or less most departments are in a good shape barring the odd inconsistency, which is exactly what I was trying to work on over the last few weeks. So lots of positives."
Atwal, who also played at Bermuda last year and finished T-44, said, "The course suits my eye. I have not played much since the Dominican event (Corales Puntacana, where Lahiri was T-6), so I am looking forward to this week. Lots of rest otherwise."
Lahiri calls playing with a whole set of protocols and Covid regulations as the 'new normal' but feels very safe as he gets ready to tee up at the Bermuda Championship this week. "After my last event at Sanderson, I have had three weeks off, during which I worked on my game and is raring to go," he said.
As for playing in Bermuda, he feels very safe and speaking of spectators at the site, Lahiri added, "Bermuda as a country has done really well in managing and handling the virus. I think from the last I heard they only had 14 or 16 cases total since the start of the pandemic. I guess it's probably the safest place for spectators to come out."
As for Atwal, since the Rocket Mortgage in July, soon after golf re-started on the PGA Tour, the only Indian to have won on the PGA Tour, Atwal has played five events and made the cut in four. "Just need to get a couple of good results, though," he said. His best has been T-45 at Rocket Mortgage.
Brendon Todd, who broke a long slump with a stunning win at Bermuda last year has not looked back since. He won back-to-back at Bermuda and Mayakoba and went on to make it to the Tour Championship. Despite breaking his big toe recently, he played at the CJ Cup and will be defending his title this week.
The field also includes Danny Willett, Henrik Stenson, Jason Dufner, Stewart Cink, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Padraig Harrington among others. (ANI)
