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TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP

June 23, 2017

Anirban Lahiri

Cromwell, Connecticut

Q. Before we talk about this round, I want to go back and reflect on this one, first round of 73, couple of double bogeys, all the wrong colors on that scorecard. Then you go out today, and a bogey-free 63. What changed?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, I didn't play any golf between Memorial and this week. I took two weeks off. I was out meditating. So I've been a little bit rusty. The body is kind of easing its way back in. So I think I'm going to get better as the week progresses. That's what I had in my mind, and evidently so.

Q. Tell me about the medication. How much does that help with your golf?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: It does help, but that's not what I do it for. I think it's helped me be a better person. It's definitely helped me get a lot of direction in my life. I have been known to get a little angry and a little frustrated, so it helps me with that as well.

Q. You said that at Memorial you were trying to be easier on yourself and not so hard on yourself. How's that working out?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: It's good. I'm pretty much at peace. I didn't shoot a good round yesterday, and I wasn't too upset because I knew the mistakes that I made. It was my first time playing out here, so it's a tricky course. You've got to know which side to miss it, and I'm learning.

Q. When you shoot 73 on the first round, does that give you a different attitude going out, and do you say I need a low one to make the weekend?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Not really. I think yesterday I played really good as well. I know there were a couple of double bogies in there, I got a couple of bad breaks, but I just didn't make anything outside of five feet. Today was similar starting out, and I made a long putt on, I think, 13 for eagle. I think that just got it going. I saw it go in the hole, and then I kept seeing it go in the hole.

Yesterday was opposite. I kept seeing it miss, and it kept missing the whole hole all day. So I think that's what helped early in the round to get the momentum.

Q. So I guess the putter was working really well today. We had in you in 150 feet made putts, and got started at eagle as you played the back first, right?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, it's exactly the opposite of what happened yesterday. Couldn't sniff the hole, it was just missing from all sides. I was just trying to stay patient. I've been stroking it really well. So it was a matter of, you know, time before I saw one go in. Luckily that happened early enough in the round, and that gave me the momentum to just make good strokes all day.

Q. We spoke at the Memorial where you played so well on the Sunday of Mr. Nicklaus's tournament. Is this more the residue of the good play and hard work you've been putting in?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I hope it's not the residue. But, no, I think I'm trending in the right direction. I think my game's headed where it was a few years ago, maybe, when I was playing my best. So, no. I definitely think that it's on its way up. It's nice to be making a few putts. You need to do that if you want to shoot in the mid 60s or low 60s. You need that. So hopefully I can just keep that going and stay positive on the course.

Q. I was going to ask you how do you follow up 63 tomorrow and eventually on Sunday?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, you get to the first tee, hit your tee shot, find your ball, hit it again, and try to make a putt if you have a chance. That's the way I want to just play my golf. I'm really happy out there. I'm enjoying my golf. I'm not really putting too much pressure on myself. A 63 doesn't define me, neither does a 73. I just need to go and play.

Q. At Memorial you played really well. The other place you played really well was Honda. Some really challenging tracks. Obviously, this is very, very different from that. What was different to playing so well at those hard courses to playing well at a much more birdie fest? Do you prefer one over the other?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: The thing is, this is my first time here. So honestly I don't know how the scoring transpires. I know there are lots of low numbers that I've shot in the past with Jim shooting a 58 and all that. But, for me, I'm just trying to play it on its merits. Like you said, sometimes you get hard golf courses and par is a premium. Then you get certain other tracks where you feel like you're losing ground when you're making pars.

But to me, I'm just trying to hit the next best shot that I can, and try to make the putt. I think I'm rolling it really good, so that helps. I'm confident on the greens, and you need that. If you want to keep a clean sheet or make a bunch of birdies, you need that. So hopefully I can keep that going over the weekend and keep that momentum.

Q. Do you prefer one over the other?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I like playing hard courses. I think it's a bigger challenge mentally. I like it when there is a bigger premium on ball striking as opposed to just wedging and putting. You get a few open courses like that. Mind you, I mean, this golf course, if it gets windy, it's not going to be that gettable.

Yesterday we played in the afternoon, and it started gusting on our back nine, and it wasn't nearly as simple as it might have been early out today, because there was no wind. So if the wind gets up or the greens firm up, you'll see a slightly different TPC.

Q. What clicked on 13? You got the eagle there. Can you take us through that hole and what worked?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I think yesterday as well. I hit a lot of good shots. Couple of bad shots that I probably compounded my mistakes and made double where I should have made bogey. But I didn't get any momentum. I didn't make any 15-, 12-footers, and I had a bunch of those all day for birdie. I think the eagle putt on 13 kind of just gave me a little bit of a lift to see a nice -- I don't know how far it was, 35 feet or whatever, go in.

And you're like, all right. It's going to go in today. You just feel positive. Then you start seeing the ball go in the hole. So I think that's what kick started it. I got a couple of lucky breaks. Didn't hit a lot of bad shots. Didn't put myself out of position where I was likely to drop a shot, and I think that helps. Even if I didn't make all those birdies and kept a clean sheet you come in three, four, five, and that's still a good score.

Q. What were the lucky breaks you spoke of? Was that on the back nine as well?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, there was one on 15 where I pulled my 3-wood, and it was a couple yards from going in the hazard on the left. The pin was on the left side. So it's almost impossible to leave it left of the hole, but that's where you want to leave it, and that's where I ended up. Even though I wasn't trying to hit it there. So left me a simple up ask down there, and that was nice for one. I think that's probably the only one.

Q. Can you go back to the runner-up finish at Memorial?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Whatever you want.

Q. I mean, did that free you up for the rest of the year?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Oh, yes. It did free me up. I had already planned my schedule, and that did not include the last two weeks, and it doesn't include any events on this TOUR until Canada. I was going to go back out to Europe and play the Scottish, hopefully the British if I can finish strong this week. So, yeah, there was a bit of pressure; a lot of pressure, I would say.

It was more from the fact that I was playing decent golf, but I was just not scoring. I was just making a lot of bogeys, dropping shots, making a lot of silly mistakes. Like I said a couple weeks ago, I've just been nicer to myself, taking it a little easier on the golf course, and that's helping me get out of my own way. I'm just enjoying my golf.

Q. Are you normally mean to yourself?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Oh, yeah. I'm very hard on myself. My coach, my wife, my parents, everyone who knows me has always told me I am my biggest critic, and sometimes that hinders my progress. I always believe unless I'm critical of myself, I can't improve. But it's a fine line. So right now I'm on the side of being nice to myself.

Q. When you check out, what do you do to get away from the course and clear your head?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, no, no, I mean, I was out meditating. There is a center just about an hour and a half north of here. It's called the Vipassana Meditation Center.

Q. In Massachusetts?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: In Massachusetts in Shelburne Falls. It was just coincidence that that center was there. I've done this course three times back home in India, starting in 2004. So I've been doing this for 13 years. It's something that's very close to me.

You go to the center for ten days, you switch your phones off. There is no TV, you're not allowed to read. You're meditating. You're not allowed to talk. So there is like complete silence for nine and a half days or so, and you're meditating 10, 12 hours a day. It's not just a walk in the park. You're actually doing work, and working on improving yourself. That's something that I find very healing for me, and a lot of people who have gone there benefited from it. It's not something I do specifically for my golf, but it's something that's helped me.

Q. Does it translate here?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, yeah. If you're in a better place mentally overall, it will translate into everything. Whether it's work or sport or home or relationships, whatever it is. I mean, if you're a happy person, or if you're in a place where you're at peace, it translates into everything. So I'm probably feeling the same as I was feeling when I shot 73 yesterday mentally.

Obviously, it's different in where I am and what I need to do, et cetera, et cetera. But I go in and I have lunch, and I'm still feeling the same was I was yesterday. That's what it does.

Q. You said this was nine days up in Massachusetts?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, it's a ten-day course for silence, and nine days. But you're there for almost 12 days. You get there technically on day zero, and you leave on day 11. In between is when you work, you meditate.

Q. You've done that since Memorial?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, that's what I did the last two weeks.

Q. I'm sorry, what was the name of the town again?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Shelburne Falls.

Q. You didn't watch any of the U.S. Open, I'm guessing?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, it's funny you asked me because I was at home, and after the event on Sunday night with my wife, she was like what are you going to do if you get into the 60? I said, I don't know what i'm going to do because I really want to go meditate. I guess it all worked out.

Funny I say it worked out in the sense of me not getting in, but that's what I wanted to do at that point in time.

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