An early birdie blitz followed by a perfect control on his nerves saw Anirban lahiri grab his first co-sanctioned title by snatching the Maybank Malaysian Open from Bernd Wiesberger in a dramatic finish at Kuala lumpur Golf & Country Club here on Sunday. Among the numerous benefits that will follow include a chance for lahiri to be invited to Augusta Masters in April, as he moved to top-50 in the world.
When the new rankings come out on Monday, lahiri could well be inside the top-40 and he needs to be inside top-50 till the week before Masters to make the grade for the year’s first Major. His stunning show in 2014 and a great start in 2015 could even earn him an invite before that. “I don’t think it’s sunk in just yet,” said lahiri. “But I’m pretty sure when it hits home it’s going to be a really happy moment for me. I think I’ve got a bad habit of making it hard for myself, but I’m happy I got over the line, as ugly as it was towards the end,” he said.
“The Masters is definitely one of my targets. I don’t know how far I’ll move up, but I’m pretty confident now with this win I should have a pretty good chance,” he added. lahiri also takes early lead for Asian Tour Order of Merit and moves to seventh on Race to Dubai standings and gets an exemption to European Tour till end of 2017.
lahiri carded a dramatic 68 that started with four birdies in first five holes and then a steady back nine with two birdies and one bogey on back nine for his maiden European Tour win and sixth on Asian Tour. In contrast, Wiesberger, who began the day with a five-shot lead over fifth placed lahiri, opened with two birdies, but a double bogey on par fifth, where lahiri birdied, and then three bogeys between 13th and 17th saw his lead evaporate and leave the Indian a deserving winner.
lahiri (68) totalled 16-under to edge out Wiesberger (74) by one shot. Meanwhile, another Indian, SSP Chowrasia, one of the only three Indians to win an European Tour title before lahiri, carded 68 to finish tied 10th. Rashid Khan (67) was tied 38th and Shiv Kapur (71) was tied 46th. Only Jeev Milkha Singh (4), Arjun Atwal (3) and Chowrasia (2) have won European Tour titles before lahiri.
Also with six Asian Tour titles, lahiri moved to tied third place with Jeev and behind Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal, who have eight Asian Tour titles each. Talking about his flawless 10-under 62 on Saturday, lahiri added, “In hindsight that was one of the most crucial rounds of my career and it’s fantastic when you play well at the right times.”
lahiri’s maiden European Tour title comes just three months after coming through Qualifying School, and is all the more remarkable given he was outside the top 20 at the halfway stage. A sensational 10-under par 62 gave him a chance, but in-form Wiesberger appeared a clear favourite when he started the day two shots clear of Alejandro Canizares and five ahead of the eventual winner.
lahiri found sand at the last but scrambled par and, when Wiesberger left his 20 foot birdie effort agonisingly short, the World Number 73 was confirmed as champion - with 439,796 euros winner’s cheque. A fourth top-10 finish in a row moves Wiesberger into the top five on The Race to Dubai, but the 29-year-old was left to rue the errors in his closing 74.
England’s Paul Waring and Spain’s Canizares were also over par for the day, but finished tied for third on 13 under, while the anticipated challenge of defending champion lee Westwood never materialised after the former World Number One double bogeyed the second en route to a round of 75 and share of fifth.