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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 10, 2016

Anirban Lahiri

Augusta, Georgia

Q. Sum up the round.
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: It was like disaster struck me starting my round. Yeah, on 3 I actually I looked at where my ball pitched my second shot, I missed my landing mark by about eight inches, if I landed eight inches further forward it would have been eight or six feet for birdie. Ended up making seven on that. That was a lesson in where not to hit it and how to bump it up the slope, I guess, when you hit it three times you know what to do the next time out there.
But I think I hit it the worst all week today, but I'm really happy with the way I scrambled all the way in. I was just at a loss to find fairways and couldn't give myself enough realistic looks at birdie. But I'm really happy with the way I chipped and made a few putts from five, 10 feet that kind of just held my round together. I could have been a really bad number, but I'm happy to have come in in 75. Obviously not happy with the 75, but given how I played, it could have been worse.

Q. Sum up the week?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Disappointing, obviously. I think it's been a tale of a few bad shots, two triples that I made this week, it could have been, should have been bogeys or however you want to put it. And also I think I played the par‑5s over par this week. And you add those two up and that's 10 shots right there. So, that's all it takes. That's the difference between being in the top‑10 and being 45th or 44th or whatever I may lie right now.
Easier said than done, but it was fantastic to play in these conditions, as hard as it was on Friday and Saturday especially, it was a massive learning. I think last year was huge, this year has been so different from last year. I think the wind that we played in today is the wind we played in all four days last year. So obviously Saturday is going to go into my notes and how the golf course played, some of the pins, places not to hit it, and places where I've actually used the slopes for the first time. I actually was confident aiming 15, 20 feet left of the pin and 10 feet past the pin and things like that, which I wouldn't have been comfortable last year. So, I guess the more you play here, the more comfortable you get with how you need to play this golf course. So, yeah, in that sense, it's been good.

Q. When you look at some of the lessons learned this week coming to the U.S. Open and The Open Championship do you think you will use them there?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, I think Augusta is Augusta and it is unique in the sense that it demands you to play it in a certain way. Also it demands you to question yourself and how you may play it. There are many ways in which people can play it, there are a lot of guys who hit 3‑woods around here, a lot of guys who are more aggressive with the driver. So I think this week the experience obviously goes into specifically for Augusta. But having said that, it's still a Major week, it's still four days played, disappointing though it may be. I'm looking forward to both Oakmont and Troon. Hopefully, I can play a little more solid. I think there's a little bits and pieces in my game that I'm not going to say they're missing, but they don't fit. The days I hit it good, I don't seem to putt well. The days I'm off the map like I was today I managed to somehow scramble my way in. So I think I've got to just put it all together over 72 holes and two weeks off now, take some time off, work with my coach a little bit, I think that that's really going to help.

Q. Mentally, are there things that you take from Augusta that will help you in the Majors to come?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, yeah, absolutely. A lot of players, especially the U.S. Open coming up, you know it's going to be hard, I think the U.S. Open, let me put it this way, the way Augusta played on Friday and Saturday, that's how the U.S. Open plays every day forever and ever, amen. You know, it's just a mental test. They literally put you to the gun from the moment you're on the tee and you have to just survive. And mentally, I guess it was a good preparation for that. You expect the U.S. Open to be the hardest event all year in terms of setup. So, yeah, I mean, obviously, there's a lot of positives to take from this week. I had to really grind it out Friday Saturday, even today, and I'm really proud of the fact that I managed to play the last 11 holes a couple under, despite hitting it all over the place, really.

Q. Pretty much like last year you end up again on your own terms.
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, I would have loved to have finished bogey‑free like I did last year on Sunday.

Q. But at least these last 11 holes ‑‑
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, no, it's nice. I really like the way the course sets up. I think it sets up great for me. But I still have to play well. And I don't think I was anywhere near my best game this week. Again, there were level patches, maybe Friday, where I was 2‑under through 14, but I really felt like I was on top of my game and then obviously again in a little bits and pieces fell apart. So, it's close, but it's still not there. Unfortunately, I was hoping I could put that behind me, but I guess I just need to work on that over the time off.

Q. What do you think really is the strength of a course like this in the Majors?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, I would love to say driving, but I drove it terribly today. I would love to say putting, but I didn't putt too good on Thursday, Friday. I would love to say chipping, which was great today but it wasn't yesterday. So like I said, those, every department of my game has made progress, but the inconsistency is something that has to be weeded out and I think that's only going to come from spending a little extended time off away from tournament play and working on it, which is exactly what I'm headed the next two weeks.
So, hopefully I can come back and make fewer mistakes. That's been the problem, I think, as many good shots as I've hit, I've made a lot of mistakes and Major weeks are all about not making mistakes.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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