	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

CIMB CLASSIC

October 27, 2015

Anirban Lahiri

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

THE MODERATOR: Anirban, thank you for joining us. Two top 10s in the last two weeks, bringing some form into this week.

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I've been playing really good. It might sound strange, but I was a little disappointed with how I finished the last two weeks, honestly. That's obviously a good sign. Yeah, I feel like I'm playing really well, pretty close to my best, just probably need to improve a little bit on my scoring around the greens and probably help me across the line this week hopefully.

Q. Talk about this golf course. You've won here, as well.
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, you know, it's one of those courses that I've had to stumble on quite a few times before I got it right. I remember the first two, three times I played here, I really struggled. I just couldn't find a way to make birdies and string together a good few rounds, but that changed last year, I think, when I played the Malaysian Open. That was my first top 10 on this golf course, and I think that gave me a lot of confidence, and obviously this year everything kind of game together, especially on that Saturday. So lots of good memories now going into this week. I feel really confident. I feel very comfortable on the golf course, pretty much like the last two weeks, also, we played Macau and Hong Kong quite a few times, and now I feel the same way with KLGC, so hopefully have another good run this week.

Q. This is the end of the Asian Tour season and the start of the PGA TOUR season. What do you think about it?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: This is a very important week for me in many different ways. Both in terms of 2015 and in terms of 2016, it's a funny situation to be in, because obviously this event is critical as far as the Asian Tour Order of Merit is concerned. You know, the whole year is pretty much to this event because this event can determine the outcome because it's that big. And in terms of where I am now with moving on to try -- playing in America and getting my card and my membership there, this becomes a very important event for me because this is my first event on the PGA TOUR officially for 2016.

You know, in two different ways it is a very important event. You know, it's like when you play the majors of the WGC, it counts on all the different tours, either as an event or as the money counted or the World Rankings, which is also very high this week. So the dynamics of this event, it has lots of repercussions on all the different tours. Hopefully it's a good week for me.

Q. This is a special place for you having won here?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Obviously. It's been fantastic. I guess this year has been phenomenal for me. I think the last 10 months since February when I won here, my career has seen an upshot like it has never seen before. Obviously I owe a lot, because it started here 10 months back, and even otherwise, you know, I was back here last year playing the Eurasia Cup, which is one of my most memorable events as a professional golfer. So Malaysia and KL specifically has been very kind to me, and hopefully it continues to be kind to me.

Q. (Inaudible.)
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: You know, it's a culmination. I got asked the same question last year when I was trying to chase David Lipsky down for the Order of Merit towards the end of 2014, and everybody said, what have you done this year, and I think it all starts a long time back. If you look at my graph, my professional graph, at least in Asia, I finished 10th in 2012, then I finished third in 2013, second in 2014. I'm leading the Order of Merit now. All I'm trying to say is it's probably something that started in 2011, which helped me to play better in '12. So it's an ongoing process. That's what I'm trying to say. It's not something that happens when you wake up on a different side of the bed.

Fortunately for me, it obviously tells me that I've been doing the right things, whether it's technically or mentally or in terms of my attitude and approach. But in a nutshell, it's also your self-confidence, I think. That's grown with every good year, with every good event, with every good result, it's gotten stronger and stronger, and that's really helped me to compete on a global stage now, no longer on an Asian stage but more on a global stage, so I'm happy about that.

Q. This is your few events in a row at that you've been playing. How do you keep your energy levels up?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: That seems to be probably the one thing that I'm -- I won't say concerned about, but that's the one thing I'm focused on right now. In terms of the game, I think it's in a really good place. I'm hitting it good. I'm seeing it really good. But obviously the energy levels are beginning to dip. It's been a long year. You know, I've made four or five trips all the way across the world from India to America, then back, then to Europe, then back, then to Asia, then back. So travel-wise it's been a very demanding year, and I think that has contributed a little bit to the fatigue, but I'm at home right now. This is as close to home as it gets for me, and I'm just comfortable on these golf courses, so that helps because I don't have to do that much homework, I don't have to go and play that many practice rounds and hit -- put that much effort in, so I'm going to be conserving my energy. I've got three more weeks after this. All these weeks are obviously very important towards the end of the year, so hopefully I can keep it going for another month.

Q. As far as the graph, you don't see yourself being toward the end of the upshot, do you?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, absolutely not, no.

Q. How far away are you?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I don't know. It's a really hard question to answer because five years back or maybe seven years back when I was playing in India, the goal was to get to Asia and to keep my card here. And I remember 2009 when I finished third at the Indian Open, that was probably the happiest day of my career, because I just -- not only had I finished top three at my national open, I had just kept my card, and that meant I won't have to go back to Q-school, I won't be playing off a country exemption.

I think it's evolved. You know, where I think I can get to has evolved, and at that point of time, I thought winning on the Asian Tour was a pinnacle. Then it was to try to get into Europe and then winning in a Europe was a pinnacle, and then I was trying to get to America, and then maybe winning in America.

But it's something that keeps changing and something that keeps growing, and if it's growing, it means you're doing -- you're headed in the right direction. As long as you can keep resetting that bar and keep pushing yourself, you know, I don't know how far, like you said, that upshot, it might actually go down, but as long as it goes back up and it goes towards a better place, that's all that matters.

Q. What would it mean to you to win the Order of Merit?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: It would definitely be a monkey off my back. I've been trying to do it for the last two years. A couple years back Kiradech got way ahead of us, and I played phenomenally well at Maybank and this event, and it kind of shows you how important playing well at KLGC can mean to the Order of Merit, honestly, because I'm in the exact same position, and hopefully I can put four good rounds together this week and give myself enough distance where I may not be caught. That would be utopian for me if I can do that by Sunday.

Q. Do you think about breaking the $2 million barrier?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Not really. I mean, you don't start out the year thinking about things like that. For me, I think the barriers now are not so much dollar terms, it's more for me trying to break the top 30 or the top 25 barrier in terms of World Rankings, or even better than that by the end of the year, because I think that has to be my focus because the direction in which I'm headed or the direction in which I would like to see myself heading would be moving up those World Rankings and getting into a position where I can play every major next year, every WGC next year, and perform in those events because ultimately the goal is to win one of those, to be a major winner or a WGC winner. That is our ultimate goal.

If you win one of those, you're definitely going to make 2 million.

Q. Talking about Presidents Cup two weeks ago, just wondering your overall thoughts now looking back on your experience.
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: It was fantastic, obviously. It's something that I've always wanted to be a part of. I was honored, privileged to be a part of such a fantastic bunch of guys, and both the internationals as well as the Americans, it was a great event. Obviously takeaway, unfortunate that I didn't play my best. That's obviously something I do feel bad about. But having said that, I can't wait to be back. I can't wait to be in that same team room again, whenever it does happen, and hopefully have the Cup in our team room on the Sunday. That's obviously now one of the things on my bucket list after experiencing Korea. So hopefully that happens.

Q. If you could talk a little bit about the missed putt, and I talked to Branden Grace about it, and if you could just share your thoughts about that.
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: You know, sometimes what happens on the last hole gets blown out of proportion. You know, taking a leap out of what Branden was talking about. But on a personal front, I honestly feel bad that it didn't go in, but do I regret making a bad stroke? No. Do I wish I had done anything differently? Honestly I don't think I did anything wrong or I didn't do anything that I could feel bad about. The fact is that the ball didn't go in, and in my opinion, I hit a good putt, and sometimes it's not meant to be. You know, I've experienced it in my short career before where on occasions I've hit bad shots and it's somehow hit a tree or come out or found a spot from where -- and I'm talking about playoffs and 72nd holes of events where the break has gone your way and you've ended up walking away with a trophy, and it's not necessarily because you deserve it any more than anyone else, but sometimes that's what happens.

You have to learn to accept that when it comes your way, and you have to learn to accept that when it doesn't come your way. At the same time, you have to be appreciative of the fact that the Americans, or Chris Kirk, he holed that putt, or those guys managed to win more matches than us, and that's what you've got to do. At the end of the day, you've got to get to 15 and a half points, and if you can do that, then you deserve to win.

No credit away from the Americans at all, but I'm proud of the way I played and represented the Internationals and my own country and my own people. I've got everything to be proud of.

Q. Did you look at it as a growing moment?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Oh, absolutely. No, absolutely, yeah. There's no bad experience. An experience is an experience. You can get bad results or good results, but you know, nothing prepares you better than a bad result, and for me, it's obviously going to be a motivating factor for the rest of my career, because you know, that's one thing I want to give back to my team because I felt like I let them down, even though I didn't actually do anything to deserve it; you know what I mean? And sometimes you can feel that way when you give it everything and it still doesn't go your way. Hopefully it goes our way the next time.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297