CHENNAI: The Bermuda Championship is not a regular destination on the PGA Tour. It became a full event this year, after being an alternate one held simultaneously with another event in its inaugural edition in 2019. In its new avatar, the eighth event on the revised 2020-21 PGA calendar has attracted some big names. Also, the winner gets a berth at next year's Masters.
It will be a significant outing for Anirban Lahiri. Raring to go after finishing tied sixth in the second event of the new season in September, the lone Indian with a full card on the world's biggest golf tour played just once more after that. Even that was more than three weeks ago, from October 1-4. He missed the next three because of his world ranking (550). Lahiri has to take this in his stride, as long as his ranking isn't back within the preferred limits.
"I'm not getting into a lot of events. This is going to be my fourth of the year and may even be the last, looking at how many entries have come in for the remainder of the events. I have to make the most of it... I have had a decent start after coming back. Now there is no time to look back. I have to use that momentum and build on that confidence," Lahiri said at a virtual media conference organised by PGA Tour on Tuesday.
The field for the October 29-November 1 event offering $4 million is competitive, featuring former Major winners Padraig Harrington, Danny Willett, Stewart Cink and Jason Dufner. Also in the fray are in-form players Doc Redman and Andrew Putnam. Arjun Atwal, who has entry to select PGA events by virtue of being a former winner, is the other Indian in the field of 132.
Lahiri would be taking confidence from the way he played after returning to the US in August, following a long break in India caught in the lockdown. "I put in a lot of work when I was in India. So far this season has been good, I've been able to implement a lot of those changes. There's still some things that are developing. As I get more tournaments in, it should gradually get better. I trust my game a lot more. I am hitting a lot better."
Before and after that tied sixth, Lahiri had finished tied 36th and tied 37th. Not great, but encouraging for a player who didn't have the best of times in 2019 and 2018. "I had one good result and a couple of average results. There has been some inconsistency with my iron play. My long game and driving by and large has been good. Barring one day out of the three events that I played, my putting has been solid. Most departments are in good shape barring the odd inconsistency, which is exactly what I was trying to work on over the last few weeks."
The Bermuda Championship will also be the first PGA tournament to have fans back. Lahiri welcomed the development. "Bermuda as a country has done well in managing and handling the virus. Last I heard, they only had 14 or 16 cases since the start of the pandemic. I guess it's probably the safest place for spectators to come out. It will also be great for us to have the galleries again and have that atmosphere that the fans bring. So it's great to see that opening up. I think we will be opening up a little bit going forward in the US as well."