Shanghai: Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Anirban Lahiri has an extra incentive this week as he battles for honours on three fronts.
A high finish in the $8.5 million (Dh31.2 million) WGC-HSBC Champions beginning Thursday could see India’s rising star wrap up the Asian Tour title, propel him into the top five of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai from his current 15th, and ensure a flying start to his US PGA Tour career.
Lahiri has played almost non-stop since August and by the time he walks off the final green at the DP Tour Championship in Dubai, he will have teed up seven weeks in a row since last month’s Presidents Cup in South Korea.
Despite the hectic run, which has also taken in the Macau Open, the Hong Kong Open and the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, the affable Indian said he had still been able to maintain his physical and mental freshness.
“I feel fine. Mentally there’s no lack of motivation. There’s a lot to play for,” he said on Wednesday after winning the pre-event pro-am at Sheshan Golf Club, Shanghai.
“I’m trying my heart out to get off to as good a start as I can on the PGA Tour and to have as good a finish as I can on the European Tour.
“It’s not easy. But it’s something that I’m not completely unused to. Last year I played nine weeks on the trot all the way through to December. This feels a lot better than that. I got 10 days off before the Presidents Cup, which felt like a month,” he laughed.
The WGC event is co-sanctioned by all the major tours and holds a unique position in the calendar of falling at the beginning of the US PGA Tour’s “wrap-around” 2015-16 season, while also being part of the European Tour’s lucrative ‘Final Four’ series which will determine the Race to Dubai champion.
“In an ideal world, I would love to win at least one of these next three events. This week would be fantastic because it would count on every Tour in the world.”
Lahiri is in pole position also to be the European Tour’s Rookie of the Year after a debut season in which he has won three times and recorded a slew of top-10s including fifth place at the final major, the US PGA Championship in August.
“It would be nice, actually, to finish as the Rookie of the Year,” the 28-year-old Lahiri said.
“Although it wouldn’t really feel like I am a rookie. I have been playing for a long time now.”
He said that his rise up the world rankings — he is currently 39th — would help him trim back his schedule next year if he can maintain a place among the top 50 who automatically qualify for majors and WGC events, which count on all tours.
“One of the things that I’ve ended up doing this year is playing on three different tours and it’s been really hard to manage my schedule,” he explained.
“This WGC-HSBC Champions has a dual advantage. If I play well this week, it helps how many events I might get into early next year which is when I’m planning to play in America.
“It’s been a balancing act, but if you play good, solid golf, everything else becomes secondary.
“All the great players play just 20 events and it’s enough for them because they are good enough to do whatever they need. Hopefully that is something that I can aspire to do.”
