Anirban Lahiri

Early life

Lahiri hails from a Bengali family. He learned to play golf at the age of eight from his father, Dr. Tushar Lahiri, who was a physician with the armed forces and a recreational golfer.

Professional career

Asian Tour

Lahiri joined the Asian Tour in 2008. He picked up his first victory in 2011 at the Panasonic Open and his second victory in 2012 at the SAIL-SBI Open. His best finish on the Order of Merit came in 2014 with his maiden overseas win on the Asian Tour - CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters which he later followed up with another one at the Venetian Macau Open. He finished 3rd on the Order of Merit in 2013.

Lahiri broke into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in March 2014 following a consistent season which included two victories on the Asian Tour.

Lahiri has also had a lot of success on the Professional Golf Tour of India, where he has won eleven events and the Order of Merit in 2009.

The big break came for him when qualified for his maiden major tournament – the 2012 Open Championship at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire. He made it a most memorable outing, first by making the cut (68-72) and then with a hole-in-one at the par-3 9th hole in the third round en route to a T31 finish.

European Tour

In February 2015, Lahiri claimed his first official win on the European Tour at the Maybank Malaysian Open, with a one stroke victory over Bernd Wiesberger. He shot a 10-under-par round of 62 during the third round to position himself going into the final day and came from four shots behind to prevail by one shot. Later the same month, Lahiri won his second event on the European Tour in his home country of India, at the Hero Indian Open. He came from seven strokes behind in the final round to force a playoff with Shiv Chawrasia, which he won with a birdie on the first extra hole. The two wins shot Lahiri into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking qualifying him for the 2015 Masters Tournament. He was labelled as a "rookie to watch" and the "new face of Indian golf." He is the third Indian national to play in the Masters, after Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal. He made the cut at his first appearance and ended the tournament with scores of 71-75-74-72 on his four rounds, leaving him tied for 49th with Jason Dufner.

In August 2015 at the PGA Championship which took place at Whistling Straits, Lahiri posted rounds of 70-67-70-68 for a score of −13. Despite a bogey at the 72nd hole, Lahiri finished in a tie for fifth place in the tournament and set a new record for the highest finish by an Indian professional golfer in a major. The top five finish on Sunday capped a memorable week in Wisconsin for Lahiri, whose performance catapulted him to 38th in the world golf ranking. He also won the PGA of America's pre-tournament long-drive contest on the Tuesday, hitting a 327-yard drive that won him a traditional gold money clip and a $25,000 charitable donation in his name. His performance set multiple records for an Indian golfer; he became the first Indian to shoot sub-par scores in all four rounds in a major, his total of 13-under was the best relative to par by an Indian at any major and his five-under 67 in the second round was also the best round by an Indian at any major.

PGA Tour

Lahiri was named to the 2015 Presidents Cup squad, the first player from India to earn the honor. Lahiri attempted to qualify for the PGA Tour through the 2015 Web.com Tour Finals after earning enough non-member points to qualify. He was the highest-ranked player in the Finals, 40th at the start of the four-event tournament. Lahiri only played in the first two events, but earned enough for a PGA Tour card. He notched his first top-10 of the 2016 PGA Tour season with a T-6 finish at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational.

Lahiri also qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics, earning a spot in the field of 60 players to compete at the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro. He also led for the first time after 54 holes in a PGA Tour event during the CIMB Classic in 2017, finishing T-3. He would go on to achieve his best PGA Tour finish of T-2 at the 2017 Memorial Tournament. Lahiri was once again named in the 2017 Presidents Cup team. Lahiri finished the 2017 PGA Tour season finishing a career high 51st in the FedEx Cup standings. In the 2018 PGA Tour season, Lahiri shot his lowest round on the PGA Tour, a 61 at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. His best finish was a T-5 at the CJ Cup in the 2018 PGA Tour season. Anirban struggled in the 2019 season and ended up losing his PGA Tour card by finishing outside the top 125 of the FedEx Cup. He gained his PGA Tour card back for the 2020 season through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals by finishing 10th in the overall standing. Lahiri struggled on the 2020 PGA Tour and finished 219th in the FedEx Cup standings, playing less than 15 events in large part due to being unable travel back to the United States and being stuck in India due to the country lockdown as a result of the pandemic. He finished 118th in the FedEx Cup for the 2021 season retaining his card for the 2022 PGA Tour season with a highest finish of T3 at the Barbasol Championship.

In March 2022, Lahiri finished second at The Players Championship by one stroke to Cameron Smith. The Players is held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It has one of the strongest fields of the year and has the richest purse of any tournament. By finishing second, Lahiri won $2,180,000, more than he ever won in a full PGA Tour season prior to this tournament.

LIV Golf

In August 2022, it was announced that Lahiri had joined LIV Golf. At his first LIV Golf tournament, Lahiri finished in a three-way tie for first place at the LIV Golf Invitational Boston with Dustin Johnson and Joaquín Niemann. Lahiri lost the playoff to Johnson to finish second, earning $1,812,500 in the process. Lahiri went on to finish runner-up twice in the 2023 LIV Golf season ending up 13th in the player standing for the season. He also finished runner-up in the 2024 season at LIV Golf Andalucía. Leading the tournament on the final hole of regulation play, he missed a two-foot putt to win the tournament. Eventually losing a playoff to Sergio García on the second extra hole. Lahiri was subsequently omitted from the Indian contingent for the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Personal life

Lahiri is a resident of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He is of Bengali descent and speaks Bengali, Hindi and Punjabi in addition to English. In May 2014, he married his long-time partner, Ipsa Jamwal. His personal interests include listening to music and computer gaming.

Professional wins (18)

European Tour wins (2)

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

Asian Tour wins (7)

1Co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India

2Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

Asian Tour playoff record (4–1)

Professional Golf Tour of India wins (14)

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

Playoff record

LIV Golf League playoff record (0–2)

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

• Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2015 Open – 2016 Masters)
• Longest streak of top 10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order before 2015.

"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Amateur

• Asian Junior Golf Team Championship: 2005 (Team Gold Medal)
• World Junior Golf Team Championship: 2005
• Eisenhower Trophy: 2006
• Doha Asian Games: 2006
• Nomura Cup: 2007

Professional

• World Cup (representing India): 2013, 2018
• EurAsia Cup (representing Asia): 2014, 2016, 2018
• Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2015, 2017

References

References

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2. "List of Arjuna Awardees (1961–2018)". Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (India).
3. (28 August 2015). "ABP Ananda recognises Bengali achievers with Sera Bangali Awards".
4. (4 March 2015). "Next Step for Anirban Lahiri, India's Top Golfer: U.S. Debut". The New York Times.
5. "Anirban Lahiri profile". Professional Golf Tour of India.
6. (6 April 2015). "Augusta Masters 2015: Five Rookies to Watch". NDTV Sports.
7. (12 April 2015). "What does Lahiri do on an average day? Makes a cut at Masters!". The Tribune.
8. (12 April 2015). "The Masters Leaderboard".
9. Ballengee, Ryan. (16 August 2015). "Anirban Lahiri notches best major finish by an Indian player". Yahoo Sports.
10. "Anirban Lahiri". Official World Golf Ranking.
11. (17 August 2015). "Anirban Lahiri back in World's Top-40, certain for President's Cup". ZNews.
12. "Anirban Lahiri – Profile". PGA Tour.
13. "KFT Finals (Excludes Top 25)". PGA Tour.
14. "Eligibility adjustments made for 2020-21 PGA Tour season". PGA Tour.
15. "FedExCup – Official Standings – 2021". PGA Tour.
16. Hoggard, Rex. (14 March 2022). "Second (or third) doesn't always suck: For Anirban Lahiri, Paul Casey, there is solace". Golf Channel.
17. Schlabach, Mark. (30 August 2022). "Open champion Cameron Smith, five others leave PGA Tour for LIV Golf". ESPN.
18. Smits, Garry. (13 March 2022). "India's Anirban Lahiri charges late to grab Players Championship lead over Harold Varner, Tom Hoge". [[The Florida Times-Union]].
19. (15 January 2015). "Indian Golfer Anirban Lahiri's Life Lessons". The Wall Street Journal.
20. "Anirban Lahiri profile". Asian Tour.
21. [http://www.kjga.or.kr/n_Public/sAJGC.asp Asian Junior Golf Team Championship] {{webarchive. link. (27 February 2015)
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23. [http://www.indiangolfunion.org/indian-team-for-eisenhower-trophyworld-championship/ Eisenhower Trophy (World Amateur Team Championship)] {{webarchive. link. (27 February 2015)
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25. [http://www.indiangolfunion.org/nomura-cupasia-pacific-amateur-team-golf-championship/ Nomura Cup (Asia Pacific Amateur Team Golf Championship)] {{webarchive. link. (27 February 2015)