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DEAN & DELUCA INVITATIONAL

May 26, 2016

Anirban Lahiri

Fort Worth, Texas

Q. Talk about today; I thought your putter was fantastic today.
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I think I hit it pretty good all day. There was a couple of stutters in the middle. I did three-putt a couple of times from inside 25 feet. That was not fun, but I think I got my focus back straight after that miss on 1 and finished strong, yeah.

Q. What about conditions today, because I think you caught it maybe at a good time. It looks like it may get a little tougher with the wind later today.
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, when we started out, I think the first four or five holes were really hard. It was raining, it was gusting quite a bit, as well, and then it just kind of calmed down. I think the last nine holes that we played were probably ideal for scoring. Obviously the rains have made the greens a little bit soft, quite receptive, so you can be aggressive. Yeah, I think it's a great track, and if you can find enough fairways, you can really take advantage.

Q. Do you like this place?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Oh, I love it. It reminds me of my favorite track back in India, the Delhi Golf Club. It's all about navigation. You don't have to go bombs away on every tee, and I really like that. You have to think your way around the golf course and play to your strengths, and yeah, I enjoy playing tracks like this.

Q. Talk about what it's been like for you after just trying to adjust to playing regularly in the U.S., the whole global schedule.
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I think my schedule has got a lot more local now. Luckily I'm not playing as much, even in Europe for that matter. But I think I've adjusted quite well. I've gotten used to traveling out here, made a few friends, and obviously getting to know a lot of new golf courses. I think the biggest challenge is just playing new tracks. Every week you're playing new tracks, most of which I haven't played for a while, so that for me is the biggest handicap. 80 percent of the field every week has probably played that golf course more than three or four times. But having said that, I've enjoyed it. There's a few tracks that I really like, a few that haven't been quite ideal for my liking. This one for sure is probably one of my favorite tracks, not because I played well today, because it's just one of those tracks which doesn't really give any one kind of player an advantage. You have to just play well and navigate and think your way around the golf course, and I think I love playing tracks like that.

Q. Is it still your ultimate goal to be out here full-time on the PGA TOUR with some starts back home in Europe, things like that? Where is your focus?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: My focus is obviously out here. The focus is on the majors. The focus is on the WGCs. We are just getting into another hectic stretch. Three weeks' time we start with Oakmont, and then it's 45 days of mayhem literally because you've got a WGC, you've got another major, then you've got another major, then you've got the Olympics. Everything is back-to-back-to-back-to-back, pretty much one week apart. Yeah, this is a great time to actually get into some form and get that confidence up going to those events.

Q. You're obviously in line for an Olympic bid. A lot of guys are talking about Zika. Is that something you're monitoring, concerned about?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I mean, obviously the threat is real because there's a lot of guys who are progressively withdrawing, more and more people. For me personally, I want to play the Olympics. I really, really want to play the Olympics because it's a great opportunity for me to do something for my sport. I've said that in the past in the media, as well. It would mean a lot to the country to get a medal out of a game like golf and probably put that in the forefront or in the spotlight. So for me the Olympics is a very important event, maybe more so than a lot of guys who are going because of that. But having said that, I am looking at the situation, and we are trying to be smart about it.

So I guess we'll see how it goes from here on in, but we've been assured that there's going to be a lot of measures taken, especially inside the Olympic Village, to deal with any possible issues.

Q. (No microphone.)
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Nothing really. I mean, I found something last week I'd say, just on the Saturday on the back nine. Started hitting the ball good, kind of figured out a couple of things that I changed around on the range, and I just started hitting it really good. It's been a while since I've hit it this good. I was just talking to my caddie today. I said, the last time I hit my irons this good was probably the Hong Kong Open, which was I think November last year. I haven't felt this good standing over the ball since then, honestly.

You know, I can just go out there, and as long as I'm in the short grass, I can back myself to give myself a good look, and that's what I did today. I think -- I was up and down with my putter. I'd say I finished good the last few holes, but I three-putted twice from inside 25 feet or whatever, something like that. I'm really happy with the way I'm hitting it.

Q. When you mentioned you made some friends out here, anybody in particular?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I'm just getting to know a lot of guys, especially now that I have got a base in Palm Beach Gardens, so I'm getting to know some of the guys who live there. You know, I'm probably looking forward to the first week off now because I'll get to catch up and play with those guys out there. That's when you really make friends, because out here everybody is busy working.

Having said that, Jamie Lovemark has become a good friend; Tommy Aiken, I've known him since the European Tour days; Andrew Loupe; Smylie Kaufman; Colt Knost. All these guys, they're really easy to hang out with and they're all close to my age. Similar places in our career and life, so it's easy.

Q. When did you move to Florida?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: The week after Augusta.

Q. And that's going to be your home base for a while?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, yeah, for now at least.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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