Anirban Lahiri

Early life

Lahiri learned to play golf at the age of eight from his father, Dr. Tushar Lahiri, a physician with the armed forces who was also a recreational golfer. "I would just go out there and I would go pick up golf balls for him, and we would go chip, putt for 15 minutes because it was getting dark," Lahiri remembers. "That's how it all started."

Professional career

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.

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 Chowrasia, 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.

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.

Personal

Lahiri is a resident of Bangalore, India. He is of Bengali descent, and he speaks Bengali but also speaks Punjabi in addition to English. "I'm really proud of the fact that I'm a more national Indian, so to speak—I’m equally comfortable with different languages, cultures, foods. I think that's one of the aspects of being an army kid. It is one thing that is common among almost every army brat. It’s almost like we are a culture of our own." In May 2014, he married his long-time partner, Ipsa Jamwal. His personal interests include listening to music and computer gaming.

European Tour wins (2)

¹Co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

Asian Tour wins (7)

¹Co-sanctioned with the European Tour

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional