Hoylake: India’s Anirban Lahiri has credited Vipassna meditation for his rise to prominence as he concluded his Open Championship preparation with a practice round with U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer on Wednesday.
The current Asian Tour number one enjoyed playing 18 holes at Royal Liverpool with the powerful German who offered him another valuable insight on what he needs to do to break into the world’s upper echelons in golf.
“It was a great round of golf. It was awesome fun. He’s a nice guy and very down to earth. Obviously he is a fantastic player. It was nice to play and get to know him. We spoke a little bit about football (Germany won the World Cup on Sunday) and a bit of this and that. It was a fun day,” said Lahiri.
Two victories and 10 other top-10s, which include three runner-up finishes, over the past 18 months on the Asian Tour have seen Lahiri rise to 86th in the world which has been phenomenal considering he was 1,381st following his rookie season in 2008.
“My career graph has been on the upper trend but it’s been bumpy. I’ve relied on meditation throughout this period which has helped me a lot. I have to try really hard to stay calm. It’s not something that comes naturally to me,” said the 27-year-old.
“As a kid, I had major anger management issues and anxiety issues. Having learned to overcome that, it’s my tendencies to fall back on that and I have to work really hard and stay conscientious on that.”
Lahiri, who tees off at 7.09am on Thursday with EurAsia Cup teammate Koumei Oda and Ben Martin, limited his practice after his round with Kaymer due to a slight fever which he picked up earlier in the week.
“Obviously a little under the weather and jetlagged. I’ve got a low grade fever. It also happened to me the last time I was here (the 2012 Open) when I got a fever on Monday. I wouldn’t mind a similar finish,” smiled the 27-year-old, who enjoyed a tied 31st outing at Royal Lytham and St Annes two years ago.
Kaymer paid respect to Asian golfers, saying they were similar in traits with the Germans. “If you see a lot of the Asian guys, they are like this too, very disciplined, very respectful people. And they don’t talk much. They just make things happen. I like that because at the end of the day, it’s not about talking and always hoping and believing, it’s about delivering,” he said.
Lahiri has certainly delivered some of his best golf of late to rise to the top of the Asian Tour’s rankings. And the Indian knows there will be more hard work and days ahead if he is to emulate the likes of Kaymer.
“The last 18 months has been tremendous, not just in terms of where my career has gone but also in terms of learning and growth and also coming of age as a person and professional. One of the good things was playing with top class players globally renowned as ball strikers like Sergio (Garcia) and Henrik (Stenson). It was nice to play with them to know where you are against where you need to be. It’s been an important part in learning in golf,” said Lahiri.
“When I was a junior, I was in shock seeing how the Americans and Europeans were hitting the ball and that spurred me on. It is always nice to experience first hand where you want to go with your golf. Your perspective changes between great golf and good golf. I think it’s gone in the right direction for me. I’ve got to keep learning although I’ve got some good results. I have kind of set my goals on trying to get out here and challenging myself a bit more to play more with players of really high caliber. That’s got to be the way forward for me.”
