Augusta, Georgia, 10-04-2015

Anirban Lahiri off to a splendid start at The Masters, shoots one-under-71 for tied 18th place in round one

Anirban Lahiri held his own in the opening round of The Masters with a brilliant one-under-71 to be tied 18th. Lahiri, making his debut at one of golf’s showpiece events, made two birdies and a bogey in the first round to be seven shots adrift of the leader American Jordan Spieth.

Anirban, the current Asian Tour number one, couldn’t have asked for a better start as he was tied with the likes of defending champion Bubba Watson and world number one Rory McIlroy.

Interestingly, Lahiri’s opening round effort was the joint best by an Indian at the Masters Tournament, equaling Jeev Milkha Singh’s effort in 2008. It was also the second best card from Masters debutantes on Thursday. Noh Seung-yul, the Asian Tour number in 2010, emerged as the best rookie with a solid 70 for tied 12th place.

“I will take it,” said Lahiri, who is currently ranked 34 in the world.

“I thought it was quite all right although it could have been a bit better. But I will take it and work on the second round. A good start always puts one in a great mood.”

Looking relaxed throughout the round, the 27-year-old from Bangalore outscored his more illustrious playing partners, Englishman Lee Westwood and Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez who shot a 73 and 78 respectively.

“I was very comfortable and I slept really well and that’s probably because I had all my game plan and strategies in place. I was relaxed and I only needed to execute it,” said the winner of seven international titles.

“All my friends were supportive and they all wanted me relaxed. There is so much positivity all around. This morning it was a very nice feeling. When they announced my name, ‘Anirban Lahiri from  India’, it was nice. There was some nervousness and it is a healthy feeling. It was there at my first British Open at Royal Lytham and this is my first Masters. If you don’t feel nervous, it means it does not mean so much to you. It is a special feeling. I enjoyed the moment and once that passed it was fine.”

He made a few good saves early in the round to stay even par and keep the momentum going.

“I started out well with a couple of saves. On the first, I misjudged my second shot and on the second, it was a par-five and I saved par after going to the right. It was important because if you bogey a par-five so early, it can affect your momentum,” said Lahiri, who bagged two European Tour titles in February this year.

“I did miss a few putts from around eight to 12 feet and on the ninth, I three-putted from about 15 feet for bogey. That was a little bit of inexperience on my part. When you are trying to make a putt, you have to lag it and not be aggressive. On 11, I rushed my putt. My caddie said, even if you try to be aggressive, every putt here is a lag putt and it has to die in.”