Lahiri takes tough lesson from Presidents Cup

The South African duo, Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen won their fourth successive match, the Internationals ensured a 2-2 result for the session.

And it was Haas’s son and captain’s pick Bill, who scored the winning point in the final match with a two-up victory over local hero Sang-Moon Bae.

“This is certainly not how I would’ve wanted to have my first Presidents Cup play out”, Lahiri said.

Price went on, “I said to Anirban, you know, he may never have a putt that he’ll be that nervous over, but he hit a great putt”.

The final session was not without its share of heartbreak. Kirk’s chip ran 15 feet by. Lahiri was just four feet away, so at the time his putt seemed like a near gimmie. Kirk’s putt died perfectly into the hole from the right edge. I was disappointed to go down today.

Lahiri also gave credit to Kirk for making his putt, adding, “These things are scripted I guess, and I wasn’t in the script this time”. It was his final stroke as a professional before heading into the South Korean military for 21 months compulsory service. Lahiri then misread his short birdie effort and allowed Kirk to steal a point for the US, which ultimately proved the difference in the President’s Cup. He came within inches of holing a bunker shot on the 17th to halve the hole, which assured the Americans would do no worse than tie. Bae himself chunked a chip shot from off the 18th green, and later blamed nerves for the mistake that cost him a chance to secure a half point against Haas and a 15-15 tie for the Cup. Price also consoled him privately and in public. He hit a few balls this morning and chipped and putted, so that’s good. His attempt lipped out of the hole, gift-wrapping the Americans a crucial point for a 14 1/2 to 12 1/2 lead down the stretch.

The guests took the early initiative and had early leads in nine matches, but the Internationals began to turn things around. The worldwide side had to have all the close matches go their way, and that’s what happened.

Champions Tour: Tom Lehman had an eagle and three birdies in the final four holes to win the Champions Tour’s SAS Championship in Cary, North Carolina. Obviously didn’t expect Anirban to unfortunately miss that putt.

Phil Mickelson had an unbeaten record (3-0-1) for the third time in the Presidents Cup, trouncing Charl Schwartzel.

It wasn’t all on Lahiri, the 28-year-old who made history in these matches as the first player from India. They got out to a 4-1 deficit and never fully recovered. He looked down the row at Grace, Matsuyama, Lahiri and Day and described them as the “future of this event”. But just didn’t get anything going. “I’m sure the rest of the team is going to help me out with that with the evening’s festivities”.