Lahiri's recent success has solidified his growing stature in world golf

So far this year, Anirban Lahiri has barely put a foot wrong. And even when he has, things have worked out for the 27-year-old professional golfer from Bangalore. Last week he won the Indian Open, his second victory on the European PGA Tour in three weeks, in part by chipping in for par on the 17th hole at the Delhi Golf Club after a duffed first chip. It was reminiscent of his win at the Malaysian Open four weeks ago, when he chunked his third shot to the final hole, then got up and down from a bunker to win by a stroke. “Malaysia was quite embarrassing,” Lahiri told Firstpost a couple of days after his Indian Open win. “Definitely the most embarrassing shot of my career so far. “[At the DGC>, that tee shot was so wayward, I was just fortunate to just not be in the bush. I won’t give myself much flak [over it>. The first chip was pretty much an impossible shot to start with. I didn’t have much of a backswing, my ball was in a terrible lie. I was just trying to extricate myself from that situation and put myself anywhere on the green or around the green where I could attempt to make par.

In both situations Lahiri was able to put his mistakes behind him instantly and get on with the job of getting in the ball in the hole, an ability he puts down to the art of meditation.

“I’ve been doing it for about 10 years and it helps me when things get really tight and the pressure is on,” he told Reuters . “When you practice meditation it’s all about controlling your breath, understanding what your body is feeling under pressure, whether your heart rate is high or low, whether you’re tight or relaxed or tense, anxious, or just happy.

“When I meditate it’s like an exercise in self-observation and when you observe yourself it kind of helps you to disassociate from pressure situations.”

Lahiri rose to a career high 34th in the world after his Indian Open victory, making him the No. 1 golfer in Asia. It also effectively locked up a place in the first World Golf Championship in Doral and the Masters, the year’s first Grand Slam, a goal Lahiri set for himself at the start of the year. The sudden success has surprised him but hasn’t overwhelmed him. “Where was I six months back? I was trying to get my card in Europe. Now I am second in the Race to Dubai, a multiple-winner, in four starts in the season. Yeah, absolutely I am surprised. You don’t expect to get off to starts like this on a big tour like Europe. “[But> in some ways, I am not overwhelmed by it because I have had a gradual overall improvement in my game over the last two, three years. It has steadily been going in the right direction. I have been getting more consistent results. It is all coming together.” The Indian Open almost didn’t come together for Lahiri. For the first time in a big event, he was the highest-ranked player in the field, and the presumptive favourite, and got off to a poor start with a two-over 73 in the first round that included a quadruple-bogey 8 on the 10th hole and a double bogey 6 on the fourth. “To some extent, I did get a little bit affected by that. I didn’t play badly on Thursday but I didn’t score well. I think I got in my own way. It has been a while since I’ve made a quadruple bogey at Delhi Golf Club.” Lahiri rebounded by shooting a six-under 65 on Friday but went into the final round trailing by seven shots and had given up all thoughts of winning. “In my mind I was just going along playing my own game and doing my own thing. I didn’t think I had a chance till I got to the ninth hole and looked at the leaderboard and realized the leader groups had faltered over the first few holes. Lahiri bogeyed the ninth but found himself just one shot behind as 54-hole leader SSP Chowrasia, and Bangladesh’s Rahman Siddikur, stumbled on the final day. The biggest test of his composure came on the aforementioned 17th hole, and he ended up in a playoff with Chowrasia that he won on the first extra hole. His win in Malaysia came from five shots back as well but Lahiri will take them however he gets them. “When you are four, five back or seven back, no matter how good you play, you need the leader groups to falter. You need the leaders to also make mistakes. You can’t really take all the credit for victories which are come from behind. In that sense, I did get luck that on both occasions the leaders had a bad day. But hell, I’ll take any victory in any way that it comes.” Lahiri celebrated by going out with his manager, wife dad and a few friends. “Just a close knit group. Had a couple of glasses of champagne and spent some nice time talking and reminiscing and catching up.” . While his Malaysian Open victory was the bigger breakthrough – his first win on the European Tour in his rookie season- the Indian Open win was more personal. “It is a dream come true. You grow up wanting to win your national open. If you are an Indian professional golfer, that is the one trophy you want your name on.” The win also solidified his growing stature in world golf. “There is a big buzz, both in Europe and in America, so it gives me the opportunity to get a few more invites in America and play a little bit more there because ultimately I want to be playing on the PGA Tour,” Lahiri said.