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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 21, 2012Anirban LahiriLYTHAM ST. ANNES, ENGLAND Q. You keep getting better. ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, just when I thought that it was fantastic, it gets even better. Like I said right from the start I've been saying it, Thursday, Friday, today, Saturday, it's just been fantastic. That's probably the icing on the cake today. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, I walked up to that tee just having made birdie on 8, which was very important to me, I was 2‑over coming up to the 8th hole, and walked up the tee, it was almost exactly the same yardage as yesterday. And I was in between clubs again. Yesterday I hit the wedge instead of a 9‑iron, and found a greenside trap and made bogey. I just told my caddie, we'll take the 9, it doesn't matter if it goes past, I'll just hit it soft. Made a good swing on it. It was looking a little right of the hole, but it got a really, really friendly bounce. I was just hoping it ended up close. When it goes in, everybody goes wild, I go wild, it was fantastic. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, it was. You're just looking around, you don't know how to express yourself, and then you see your dad jumping up out there blowing you kisses. These moments don't come every day. Q. Have you had a hole‑in‑one before? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I've had three holes‑in‑one in tournament play, five otherwise, yeah. Q. Do you still have the ball? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: The ball is with my dad. I don't think anybody can take that away from him. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I don't know, I think he's thinking right now what he can do with it. Let's see how creative he is. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, member's bounce, exactly. I think coming out in May and playing a couple of rounds probably befriended the course. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it takes the cake. This is probably, you know, it's a hallowed event for us. You come out here and you just want to play your best. You and want to put up a good performance for yourself, for your country. And so far I think I've done justice to that, and I'm really happy about that. Q. Were you in any bunkers today? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I found‑‑ I mean I made three bogeys today, two of them were fairway traps, one on the 3rd, one on the 18th. That's kind of self‑explanatory, you don't have a shot out of that. And on the 4th hole, I hit a great shot, it hit the lip of the bunker, and it rolled all the way back to where I didn't have a shot. I was right along the back lip of the bunker, about two inches off it, so I had to play outside there, as well. So three dropped shots, three bunker shots that I had to go out sideways without an option. That kind of explains it. Otherwise I played pretty solid. I think I hit a lot of good shots and didn't convert as many putts as I could have, especially on the back nine. I think I'm hitting it better as the week is progressing. Hopefully not find a bunker tomorrow, that would be nice, depending on what Brandt is doing. Q. Are you happy with where you are? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I'm happy with that. It's a bit disappointing when you're 1‑under at the turn, and I played well right through the back nine. I think I hit almost all the greens apart from 2, 18 and 15, I think. You'd like to make a couple more putts, of course. But I'll take it. I'll still take it. It puts me in a good position, yeah. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, I've had that happen to me a couple of times in tournament play before, so you just have to just knuckle down. I think the best way to focus back is just shove your head into your yardage book and look at where you need to hit it because there's so many numbers out there to so many bunkers, roughs, run‑outs, lies, wind. So I just involve myself in what I need to do. That helps me do what I need to do at that time. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I've been doing it this week, and it helps me stay calm. I think I was getting a bit‑‑ I won't say agitated, but I was getting a bit overeager on the front nine after dropping two shots. I felt like I was playing really good, and I found myself a couple of over par. And that can happen on this course, like I said. If you find the wrong spots it's very difficult to recover. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I think‑‑ yeah, even par is in a good spot. A good round tomorrow will give me a chance to climb up the leaderboard. I'm really looking forward to that. I can't ask for anything more than an opportunity, and I'm glad I put myself in that position. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Nothing, really. The expectation was to come here and play on a brilliant golf course with a field that's the best in the world and just enjoy everything.  Just enjoy myself, really. There's not much‑‑ I mean, the more you expect from yourself, the harder you're going to make it. And I found that has happened with me in the past, and I've been a professional for five years. Obviously this is the biggest event I've played. But I've learned from my mistakes, I think, in how to approach an event. And I'm glad I've approached this event the right way, and that's been to just come out here and enjoy my golf, whether I'm playing well or poorly. Just try my best, and that's what I'm doing. Q. When were the other hole‑in‑ones? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, last year I made one in Hong Kong Open on the wrong hole. They had a bar of gold two years back, but they gave me a bottle of champagne, which was special enough. Q. What do you mean on the wrong hole? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, on one of the holes they had a BMW and another they had an Omega, and I got it on the wrong one (laughter). Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I think it's been a big confidence week for me. Coming out here I always believed that I could compete with the best. And I had that self‑belief inside me, but when you see yourself among such company playing alongside them on a track like that and doing decently, you kind of reinforce that belief and make it stronger. And yeah, I think it's really going to help me in the future to come westward, to Europe or to America, and to progress my career in that direction. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, it's so difficult to say. We're sports persons; anything can happen next week, tomorrow, the next moment. I'm just really focusing on what I need to do now. But, yeah, in the long‑term I would obviously like to move to‑‑ probably the biggest Tours, which is Europe and America, and compete with all these guys on a regular basis and beat them, hopefully. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Jeev is‑‑ he's one of my role models, always has been since I was a kid. Just the fact that he's won last week again just goes to show the caliber of the man. It's not easy what he's doing. He's struggled with injuries, he's not as young as he was 10 years back when he was winning prolifically in Japan and coming out to Europe and making strides. As a young Indian kid you want to emulate Jeev, everyone does. I grew up wanting to be just like him and play like he does, even now. It's very inspirational. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, I don't think you can set numbers out here. I mean you start thinking about numbers, you start thinking about the 18th hole when you're on the 10th or the 11th, you're asking for a lot of trouble. The only thing you can think is where do I need to hit this tee shot, what part of the green do I need to hit this to, because if you're not thinking that and you slip up for ten seconds you make a 5 or a 6 before you know it. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yes, absolutely. I'm definitely going. I think, given my current ranking on the Asian Tour, I'll probably get exempt to second stage, which helps. But, yes, I'm definitely going out to qualify this year. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, the thing is the final stage of Europe, America and Japan all clash. So all three of them are the higher Tours from the Asian Tours and all three of them have the final stage of qualifying the same week. It's going to be a tough ask for me to ask the Asian Tour to give me exemptions for the final stage of Europe and the second stage of America just to play it safe. If I get through second stage then I'm stealing a spot from someone else. But that time hasn't come yet. I'm going to decide on that a little later. But, yes, the priority is going to be to go to America, yes. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI:  Yeah, it's more or less back to Asia. I will play in Switzerland because that's a co‑sanctioned event with the Asian Tour. So that will be my next trip back to Europe. But otherwise, yes, predominantly in Asia and probably a Q‑School here or there. Q. (Inaudible.) ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, those events have a criteria for the Asian Tour for a place to qualify. I'm not sure exactly what that is. I think it will be the top five or top eight on the current Order of Merit. Where I am right now I would but there are about six or eight events left before the time deadline comes through, so we'll just have to wait and see. Q. Are you going to be renegotiating with your sponsor? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, I think it's a good opportunity for me to thank them for supporting me. Young Indian golfers don't get all that kind of support that they should be getting. And I'm really glad that Hero and Panasonic and Srixon and Duffy have stood by me over the last four or five years. They've given me the base from which I can launch myself and push to what I really need to do. Hats off to them, I think they deserve every minute of it. Q. How will you keep your feet on the ground after that? ANIRBAN LAHIRI: It's really simple, I just play golf. The game puts you right back; it's such a leveller. You keep playing this game and you realise that this game always wins, and that's why you love it. That's why you play it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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