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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 20, 2015Anirban LahiriST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND Q. Given the way (inaudible)? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Of course it is disappointing. On the back nine I just kept finding fairway bunkers and kept putting myself in bad positions. Quite a bit of an experience, I think. I mean, it showed today in the wind that I probably didn't hit the right clubs off some of those tees, probably didn't take the right lines on some of my shots. A lot of misjudgments out there on the back nine, and I guess it should have been at least two or three shots better, but I'll learn from it. Q. How was the whole experience of The Open at St. Andrews? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: It was fantastic. I think I played decently. I can't say I played well because I dropped too many shots over the last two days, which is disappointing, you know. I've dropped eight shots in the last two days. If that number was three or four, it could have been a lot better. But it's been fantastic. It's been a great learning experience. There's a few things that stopped me, some areas which I need to work on such as putting from 200 feet, which I have a 100 per cent three-putt record this week. So I have to come back and work on those things, and it will help me get better in the future. Q. The first two days were absolutely (inaudible)? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, I still think I played well. I think momentum was still there. I mean, you look at how I played yesterday, I was playing fine. Made a lot of mistakes with the putter yesterday coming in, cost me. Today it wasn't so much my putting. I think I putted much better today. Just found -- I was talking to Rajiv about it, and I think I've hit it in five or six fairway bunkers this week, and every time it's cost me a shot. I think out of those six, probably a couple of them were bad shots, the others were all misjudgments. Things like that is what you've got to avoid and that's what you learn when you play on courses for the first time, and I think that's probably where I kind of lost a bit of ground. But having said that, it's a very positive week for me. Haven't shot a single round over par at a major; massive positive. I've not been in great form coming into this week. I've missed a few putts, and I feel like that's behind me. I feel like the form is returning. You know, mentally I feel better, as well. All huge positives for me going forward, and hopefully I kick on from this. Q. What's the plan now leading up to the PGA Championship? It's a very important stretch for you. ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I mean, the second half of the year is where most of the action happens, so to speak. I think this is the most important stretch of the year, at least from the standpoint of what's to come, which is obviously the race to the top 50 that I've got to stay inside that or try and guess as close -- as low a number as I can. The Presidents Cup, not too far away. I haven't been playing well, so I've slipped a long way down that list, so I need to pull up my socks and play well the next few weeks to make sure that I put myself in the team. Obviously the Race to Dubai is important, obviously looking at missing a few events and playing the Web finals to get my card in America, so if I do that I'm going to be missing a few events on this side, so I need to make sure that I put myself in a decent position so I don't have too much ground to catch up on at the end of the year. So there's lots going on. At the end of the day, the plan is to play well. I think the rest of it takes care of itself. Q. The way you are striking the ball, you must be confident that when you go to the kind of parkland courses you're playing in the next few weeks, it's all going to come together? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I think so. Like I said, I think since France last week, I didn't play too well, but since France, which is two weeks back, I felt like the game is coming back, and when I say that, I feel like I'm playing well enough to shoot low numbers. But I just haven't compiled 72 good holes together. I've managed to drop too many shots. I mean, even this week, last two days are an example of that. I think it's about tightening my game a little bit. I think it's been a little loose. In that sense, I feel like it could be any week now that I can go ahead and out of the blue maybe even win or contend quite strongly, because the game is there. It's not like -- it's not wishful thinking. I think it's there, and it's a matter of just tightening some of the loose ends and just making a few more 15-footers. I think that starts happening, and it'll all turn around pretty quickly. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I enjoy playing in Crans. It's been a few years that I have been playing there, so not as much of a mystery as it was this week. It will be interesting, though, because we've always played in September when it's colder. I think somebody put up a picture yesterday, and it looked brown. I've never seen Crans brown, and all the peaks were bare and there was no snow. I'm guessing the ball is going to be going millions of miles. So it'll be interesting, but I enjoy playing that track, yeah. Looking forward to it. Q. You've played now three majors (inaudible)? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, it's difficult to describe it in one sentence. I think the Masters was fantastic and disappointing. I think that's -- of the three majors that I've played this year, I think that's probably the best I've played and the worst I've scored, and that's including this week. The U.S. Open was a massive disappointment. I just putted myself out of it. St. Andrews is -- I'd say it's good memories, opportunity lost I would say, but massive amount of confidence and experience gained. Q. Soon after the U.S. Open you had mentioned that (inaudible) because you've now played in the biggest events. ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, I don't see that much of a difference. Obviously there is a difference, which is why I'm not 13- or 14-under, and that difference is probably managing the golf course better and putting better. That's probably the only two things that are different. Yeah, that's where the course management comes in because when you hit it in these traps and you get bitten, that's when you realise how far away you have to stay from them. For instance, I played with Paul Lawrie today. He's a past champion. He's played here many, many times. He only lives a couple of hours away from here, and he was so comfortable on the greens. It took him five seconds to know exactly which way the putts were breaking, and I was trying to do trigonometry to figure it out. It does speak volumes of what experience does, and it showed -- it was showing. In that sense, it's going to make a big difference. It's good that I'm playing these events. It's good that I'm playing these courses because whenever I come back, I'll feel more comfortable. I think that's the biggest difference between me playing in Asia and Europe now, because when I play in Asia, most of the courses I've played before, I know exactly how far the ball is going to fly, I know how much the green affects the putts. So it's a matter of getting equally -- I won't say comfortable, but equally knowledgeable of the conditions. I think it's still lacking a little bit, and it's fantastic that if I can keep playing decently, it'll come around. Q. About a year ago I was telling you that your stats for Saturday, moving day, were great. You were always shooting 5-, 6-under. That is one thing that I've seen missing from you this year or the last one or one and a half years. Is it some kind of a mindset? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, I think it's -- I don't think it's something that I would overthink about. When you are going to contend or when you're going to win, it's important to play well on the weekend. I think if you look at Malaysia, this year it was a 62 on the weekend, on a Saturday. You look at the Indian Open it was probably a 67 on a Saturday. If you're going to look at tournaments where I've done well, you have to play well on the weekends, and I don't think it's missing. I just don't think it's as consistent as it was maybe a couple of years back. But you look at the profile of the events that I've played and the courses that I've played, and you'll see that these are not new tracks. These aren't courses that I'm trying to learn or understand, and I think there is -- therein lies a lot of it, and obviously it's been a massive learning. Honestly, I'm stepping up on a brand new golf course every single week, and now when I go back and play these courses, maybe next year or whenever, that's not going to be the case, and I think that is something that helps. I mean, you look at all the guys that do well, they're not the first-timers usually. Very, very rarely do you see a first-timer doing well. Having said that, Jordan Spieth stands out, a lot of amateurs this week stand out, but for me I think it's about the comfort of understanding and knowing what I'm up against, and today on the back nine I was actually lost. I didn't know where exactly to hit it, and my game play was off. I consider my strength, the strength of my game, to be my strategy, and when that's off, it becomes hard, and that's what happened today. Honestly, I'm not too upset. Obviously I hit a few bad shots and some bad decisions, but I want to come back and play better next time. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, for one thing, I've gone media dead. That's something I've decided consciously to do. I've kind of withdrawn. Initially I think I was doing too much, and it was taking away from what I needed to do on the range and on the golf course, and it was taking away from my mind space. So one of the things I have done is I've kind of clammed up, and I've gone socially quite dead, and it's something that I've done very specifically. It's something that I've thought about, because I thought it was taking too much of my mental energy. Even though a lot of it is necessary, it's important to express yourself and to be available, I make sure I do that -- I owe it to everyone who wants to know or whoever is interested, and I do that. So that's one of the things I've done. But otherwise I think it's been huge. It's been a big positive energy for me. Q. What are your expectations? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I think the weight of the expectations is only what I expect. At the end of the day, if I do well, it helps the game in India and Asia, and if I do poorly, it makes no difference, honestly. So for me, I have to focus on what I need to do. Probably going to America and playing a lot of these events, I've gotten more exposed to different levels of golf at different tournaments, and I've also kind of realised that I need to stick to whatever I've been doing. It's very easy to try and rediscover the wheel, which is where I think I got stuck for about a month, month and a half, and mentally I wasn't in a good frame of mind on the golf course. I've kind of gone back to doing what has worked for me and what has got me to wherever I've gotten so far and doing it better. Trying to work with my strengths and trying to make my weaknesses my strengths, which has always been my strategy, which is what I'm working on again, instead of restarting a process which is time-consuming and unnecessary. It's been a lot to deal with, honestly, because February was the best month for me for a long time professionally. Then March, April, May, June, July, it's been four months since, and I think I've aged about three years in those four months. Last month I think I turned -- I turned 28 last month, and a couple of weeks before that I was looking in the mirror, and I thought, holy hell, I've got white hairs in my side burns. But that's what can happen. But I'm glad that it's happening now, and I've got plenty of opportunity in front of me. I feel really good, positive, and comfort in going into what's to come. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, he's been a great factor in my golf, and it's been nice having him on the road. That's another thing, like you said, that happened with me travelling constantly since March. The one thing that I realised was I wasn't spending enough time practising. I wasn't able to devote as much time to strengthening my game and just keeping it -- maintaining a level, and that's why -- I sat down with Vijay and we've made a conscious decision where he makes sure he comes out every couple of months at least so we know all the departments are where they should be. And I think that's a part of the process. Like I said, it's good it's happening early and not five years later from where I am right now. It's only going to make me better prepared for the time to come. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: It will be two weeks after Wyndham, so the PGA Championship, Wyndham, which is the last official event, then there's a week gap, then there's a four-tournament series. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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