After proclaiming PGA as golf’s ‘pinnacle, Lahiri joins LIV Tour
CHENNAI: India’s highest-ranked golfer, Anirban Lahiri, has signed on to play in the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Lahiri, ranked 92nd in the world, will play his first tournament at an Invitational in Boston this week. A press release from the organisation announced Lahiri’s decision to join the new tour.
“Lahiri, a two-time Olympian for India, has amassed 18 wins and an additional 55 top-10 finishes throughout his professional career. Runner-up at the 2022 Players Championship to winner Cameron Smith, he has twice represented the International Team at the Presidents Cup (2015, 2017),” it read. Apart from Lahiri, five other golfers Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Harold Varner III, Marc Leishman and Cameron Tringale also joined the tour from this week.
Lahiri, the only Indian to have a full-time card on the PGA tour, will become the second from the country to feature in the rebel tour (Viraj Madappa had played in the inaugural event). With Lahiri’s decision to turn out for the rebel tour, it’s likely that the PGA wll rule him ineligible to take part in their events going forward multiple golfers including the likes of Phil Mickelson have been ruled ineligible from taking part in PGA events (there is an antitrust lawsuit between a few of the players who signed on for LIV and the PGA). What’s interesting about the announcement apropos Lahiri is that only last month he claimed that the PGA tour was the sport’s ‘pinnacle’. “The PGA Tour is always going to be the pinnacle of professional golf,” he had said.