New Delhi: Anirban Lahiri’s sensational seven-under-65 in the final round of The Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, earned him a career-best tied second finish on the PGA Tour.
Lahiri got better with each round as he shot scores of 74, 70, 69 and 65. As a result, he also kept zooming up the leaderboard from tied 63rd to tied 40th to tied 27th to finally tied second at 10-under-278.
Anirban’s error-free effort on the final day saw him gain 25 places as he finished three shots behind the eventual champion Jason Dufner of the United States.
Lahiri, who shared second place with another American Rickie Fowler, picked up his highest ever prize money cheque of US$ 765,600 at the event worth US$ 8.7 million.
Anirban, whose previous best finish on the PGA Tour was tied third at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia earlier this season, has now skyrocketed from 92nd to 44th place in the FedexCup Standings thus all but sealing his card on the PGA Tour for next season.
The 29-year-old Indian star, a two-time European Tour winner, who was also Asia No. 1 in 2015, rolled in a couple of putts from 15 to 20 feet and also landed it within eight feet for birdie on as many as four occasions at the Muirfield Village on Sunday, to make an outstanding final day charge.
Lahiri’s best ever result on American soil, signals his return to form as he had missed the cut in four of his last six outings since his tied fifth finish at the Hero Indian Open in March.
Anirban, likely to move up 25 spots from his current 90th place in the world rankings, has now also strengthened his bid for a berth in the International Team for the 2017 Presidents Cup scheduled to be held in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA, from September 26 to October 1 this year.