Nassau, Bahamas: Anirban Lahiri got the loudest cheers from Indian fans as he teed off with Jordan Spieth on the first day of play at the 2015 Hero World Challenge. By the end of day one, Lahiri who had four birdies against one bogey stood tenth in the 18-man field at the Albany. He was three shots behind the trio of co-leaders that included defending champion and reigning World number 1, Jordan Spieth, who lit up the day with a hole-in-one on his second hole.
The Caribbean island of Bahamas has been taken over by Indian flavour as Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, hosts the Tiger Woods invitational for the second consecutive year. The clubhouse hospitality centre at Albany in Bahamas now offers a selection of Indian delicacies with players enjoying traditional Indian dishes such as Butter Chicken, Palak Paneer and Dal Makhani.
Cheered on by an enthusiastic Indian group of supporters, Anirban got off to a decent start and stood 10th at the end of day one of play. Speaking about his performance, Lahiri said, “I missed a couple of makeable eagle putts on sixth and 15th and I had a couple of unlucky bounces including on the ninth, but overall I was happy with my play.” He further added, “It was fun playing with Jordan. I have played with him before at the WGC-HSBC in 2014, at a time when I was trying to get into Top-50. We have been pretty good friends.”
Talking of his hole-in-one, Jordan Spieth said, “It was a cool start to the day. It was a 6-iron like 175-ish playing about 10 yards further with the wind so I needed to take a little off of it. Absolutely flushed it right at the hole and didn't think it went in. I started walking because balls have been sticking on the green so I thought it just stuck, but I guess it just crept forward that extra two feet. With very few people watching, you don't know if it's really close or in when they cheer and then you look up and the ball disappeared. So it's cool, it's cool to have. Holes-in-ones in PGA TOUR events are pretty awesome.”
The US $ 3.5 million Hero World Challenge has 18-man field with all players inside Top-40 in World Rankings. Last year Spieth won the title by a whopping 10 shots, a week after winning the Australian Open by six strokes. That set him on the road to winning Majors in 2015 and becoming No. 1 in the world and was also adjudged Player of the Year.
