Anirban Lahiri gutted to lose at President Cup; promises to bounce back

Anirban Lahiri reacts on the 18th green after missing a putt to lose his match against Chris Kirk in their singles match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament in Incheon. (Source: AP)

Missing a three-foot putt on the 18th hole on the final day of his maiden President Cup left him “gutted” but Indian ace golfer Anirban Lahiri vowed to bounce back and redeem himself in years to come.

On a dramatic day, it all came down to two shots – Lahiri missing a three-foot putt on the 18th and home boy Sangmoon Bae’s messing his third shot on 18th, which rolled back onto the fairway.

Lahiri’s miss came after Chris Kirk holed a massive 15-foot pressure putt to give the American a full point instead of a half.

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Bae, who goes in for Military Service after the event, also had a chance to snatch a half point, but it ended with a botched-up chip. Bill Haas, one of the picks made by his father and captain, Jay Haas, held his nerve and won the last point and with it the Presidents Cup.

“I am gutted,” said Lahiri. “I would like to rewind and just change the last ten seconds of it. No, I think it wasn’t meant to be. I can’t feel too bad because I didn’t hit a bad putt; (it) didn’t go in.

“I have to give credit to Chris as well. The team played great. Obviously I’m disappointed with my week. Hopefully I get a chance to redeem myself in years to come.”

He added, “I was pretty sure what the line was and I made a good stroke. But I think I did what I’ve done all week: Misread putts.”

For the third session in a row, the Internationals and US were locked in a tie – the singles ended 6-6, but the final score read 15.5 to 14.5 in favour of the Americans, who have now won nine out of 11 times. The Internationals won once in 1998 and the teams were tied in 2003.

Despite the loss, captain Nick Price said he was happy and proud of his International team.

“Anirban and to Moon (Bae), you know, they were in very difficult predicaments today, which I don’t think they have ever felt before.

“But it’s all part of the experience. Today is a day they will never forget, but I hope that they use it in a positive way to take the next step.”

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. It was just a little unlucky it didn’t go in. Probably 95 times out of 100, that putt would have gone in. But that’s what makes this event so special.”

Lahiri also mentioned, “I had Bubba Watson come up to me about a minute after we finished up and he said that he had done the same exact thing. Both of us thought — I guess. I don’t know about his putt. I didn’t see it. It looked like right in to me. That’s why I hit it. Went left to right and caught a big part of the lip. Spat it out.”

With the match All Square after he had won the 12th and 14th, Lahiri, who list fifth and 11th holes, hung in with Kirk from the 14th to the 17th. They came to the 18th with the match hanging in perfect balance.

Lahiri hit a superb third shot to within three feet and Kirk was at least 15 feet and he needed to hole it for a birdie to give himself an outside chance of halving the match, which at that stage was All Square.

Kirk’s putt died perfectly into the hole and he admitted,

“(I was) purely just thinking, make it (putt) for the halve. Obviously didn’t expect Anirban to unfortunately miss that putt. Hate to see that. Just trying to hit it like any other putt, hit the line and roll it in.”

The star of the week was undoubtedly International team’s Branden Grace, who won each of five matches, four in the  company of Louis Oosthuizen and one on his own in the singles against Matt Kuchar.

Oosthuizen, too, remained unbeaten, with four wins and one match halved with Patrick Reed.

On the US side, veteran Phil Mickelson, playing his 11 successive President’s Cup, but needing to be picked by the Captain Haas, had three wins and one match halved, the same as Zach Johnson. In fact Mickelson and Johnson halved their Four-ball against Adam Scott and Jason Day.

Into day’s singles, Scott delivered the fastest win with a 6&5 verdict over Rickie Fowler and it included a super streak from the Australian who won six holes in a row from seventh to 12th.

Bubba Watson, two-time Masters champion, once again missed a short putt on 18th for a win and had to be satisfied with a half point against Thongchai Jaidee. It had happened earlier in his Four-ball match alongside JB Holmes and against Scott and Marc Leishman.

Towards the end the Internationals still had a chance with Sangmoon Bae, who as Price said had the pressure of the team and the crowd. But Bae hit too cute a third shot on the 18th and it rolled back from the mound. His opponent, Bill Haas, son of the US skipper, Jay Haas, grabbed the chance with both hands and took the hole and with it the match 2-Up. US won the Presidents Cup again, but this time by the thinnest of margins possible.