Media Center Interviews
April 1, 2021
First Round Interview with Anirban Lahiri
Q. Anirban, good playing today, 1 under. What was the key to the round today? Tough conditions with the wind.
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I think it was nice to get out early. I know it was really cold, but the wind hadn't picked up. Even now it's not yet quite as bad as it can be, so I definitely got some really nice conditions.
I've been here a few times. I know how hard this course can be. I think the key is basically to try and put yourself in the fairways as many times as possible and also leave yourself in the right positions on the greens. I think I did that pretty well. I was pretty solid inside five, six feet, which is also really important because you don't get a lot of kickins, so you have to putt solid. That was good. Did hit a few loose shots coming in, felt like I could have closed a couple shots better.Q. Last few weeks you probably haven't had the success that you would like. Was last week kind of a good week to reset? How does it feel to improve a little bit?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, no, I think it's definitely been a lot of work in progress. I think the last month or so I've had to work very hard on regaining the level of ballstriking that I expect from myself and I need to have out here. It was missing during the Florida Swing to a large extent. So last week I stayed home and kind of built on some of the good stuff that I've been doing, so it's nice to actually see it translate on a day like this. I know it's early days, but I feel like I'm moving in the right direction and it's progressing in a good way. I still need to stay on top of it and keep building on it.
Q. An afternoon tee time tomorrow. What's going to be the key to put together another good round tomorrow?
ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Again, I think changes. There's always going to be some holes and some pin positions that you have to respect. There's some holes out there, depending on the wind, you know, a hole on any given day could be really, really difficult and the wind switches and the next day that's the hole you have to make birdie on. It's kind of how the golf course sets up. Given the pin positions and the wind, you've got to really have a good game plan as to which holes you can attack. Try to take advantage of the par 5s and just try and stay as clean as you can, keep it in play. There's a lot of trouble, so you have to navigate and execute. So I'll come up with my plan tonight. I'll do my homework and I'll put my work in and hopefully I can come out tomorrow and execute.
