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COVER STORY The Future Of GolfRORY MCILROYISSUE 175 APRIL 2015RICKIE FOWLER■ Rory McIlroy (no surprise)With the Presidents Cup coming up later this year, Nick Price, the Internationalteam captain is said to be watching Lahiri with some intense inter-■ Jason Day■ Patrick Reedest. If Price picks him for the team, Lahiri will become the first Indian player to■ Ricky Fowlercompete in the biennial event in South Korea. Commenting on Lahiri during the■ Jordan Spiethrecent WGC Cadillac Championship, Price said, “Looks like he can make a big putt■ Hideki Matsuyamaon a big occasion …. he’s very calm, collected, and I think he’s going to be an asset■ Brooks Koepkato our team.”■ Daniel BergerLahiri’s rise to the top has even resulted in the European Tour naming him as theHowever, we hasten to add thatgolfer of the month for February 2015. In a statement, the tour said, “Anirban Lahirino one should expect to see the sorthas been named The European Tour Race to Dubai Golfer of the Month following theof strangle-hold dominance that Tigerincredible run of form that saw the 27 year old Indian win the Maybank Malaysianhad during his reign. The aforementionedyoungsters will share mo-“Three months ago Lahiri was battling to win a place on The European Tour at theOpen and the Hero Indian Open in the space of three weeks.” It went on to add,ments of glory and expect to see moreQualifying School Final Stage, but his extraordinary February exploits have catapultedhim to 34th place on the Official World Golf Ranking and guaranteedyoungsters come forth to challenge fortop honours. This will be the changinghim a place at The Masterslandscape on the professional tours andTournament.”youth with prevail always.So, with Lahiri leadinga young brigade ofIt is worth noting also that last year,more than 50 percent of the winners ontop stars, it is hopedthe PGA Tour were under 30 years of age andthat this will inspirethis trend will no doubt continue in 2015 andmore young Asiansbeyond.to aspire to shoot forHow about the Asian professional golf scene?the stars and aim fortop honours at theWell, with the exception of veteran Thai superstarhighest level of theThongchai Jaidee who is well over 40 years, the restgame of golf.of the field in the Top Ten Order of Merit are in their 30’s.The current top dog on this ranking is India’s Anirban Lahiriwho is 27 years old and is on a big winning streak at themoment.Asian Golf first met Lahiri about four years ago and we wereimpressed with what we saw then. We recognized the youngIndian as being the total golf package. He had a good game thatshowed tremendous promise. He had the right breeding that helped him displayexcellent manners, good personality and he possessed the flair necessaryto be an international star.Fast forward to 2015, and Lahiri is now poised to be the continent’s big superstar. As the No. 1 player on the Asian Tour, he has already notched up fourvictories in the past 11 months, including the Malaysian and Indian Opens. Heis currently ranked 35th in the world, and this places him two spots ahead ofthe 2013 Fedex Cup winner Brandt Snedeker who was once ranked 4th on theOfficial World Golf Rankings.Why do we think that Lahiri is going to be Asia’s flag-bearer on the globalgolf scene? The answer is simple. He has an incredibly solid game and heis very marketable. Let’s not forget also that he is world class – he is rankedabove Tiger Woods, Louis Oosthuizen, Jason Dufner and Webb Simpson whichsays a lot for the young Indian professional.The son of an Indian military doctor, Lahiri took up the game when he was 8years old. He is following in the footsteps first blazed open by Jeev Milkha Singhand Arjun Atwal. Both Singh and Atwal were India’s first two big stars who wenton to build solid careers playing on the European and PGA Tours respectively.In a recent report Atwal is reported to have told Lahiri: “You know, we havedone all these things that everyone looks up to. You have the opportunity todo that at 27, 28. We did it at 35, 36. So you’ve got that much more time tooutdo us and outdo yourself.”The report went on to add that Lahiri was moved, and motivated, byAtwal’s words. He said he wanted to create a ripple effect that created greaterparticipation in the game and higher expectations. “I’m getting the opportunitiesat a much younger age than they did, and for me, that is the greatest gift- time,” Lahiri said.JASON DAYPATRICK REEDLYDIA KODANIEL BERGERHIDEKI MATSUYAMAJORDAN SPIETHBROOKS KOEPKA12 13 ASIAN GOLF