Although pleased that he had made the grade, Bangalore golfer Anirban Lahiri confessed that the feeling that he was actually going to compete in the British Open was yet to sink in.
“It's still early days,” he said here on Monday. “The Open is still four months away (July 19-22). As the tournament draws nearer, it will probably sink in. Right now, it's my parents, family and friends who are more excited.”
Lahiri felt his victory in the SAIL-SBI Open in Delhi last week had made a difference to his qualification bid this time.
“The fact that I was in good form helped me a lot. My putting was in great shape and it improved even more during the course of the tournament (in Thailand),” he said.
This year's edition of the Open will be played at the Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England, and the 24-year-old admitted that playing on a links course would be difficult.
“I went to Turnberry (Scotland) some time ago with my friends and played three or four rounds. I got a good taste of what a links is. It's completely different. We play in Asia in tropical conditions where you are encouraged to hit it higher or farther through the air whereas the biggest challenge there lies in the wind and it's a lot drier. Initially I was all at sea because it's not something we're used to. I might go at least a week or 10 days in advance to get acclimatised and also try to play on a few courses around that may be similar to St. Annes,” he said. “I will try and speak to Jyoti (Randhawa) and Jeev (Milkha) as they both have a lot of experience playing on the European circuit. I will also probably get a local caddie, who will have an idea of the conditions and the course.”
“I underwent a 10-day course at the Vipassana International Meditation Centre in Hyderabad. You don't talk for nine-and-a-half days; you're totally cut off from the outside world. It has helped me find balance in life and I am totally at peace now. I feel a lot lighter and calmer; I stay in the present. Last week (in Thailand), I had a three-shot lead with three or four holes to go. If it was six months back, I'd have already started thinking about my flight to the UK and all that,” he said. “But now I only think of the next shot.”
