Hoylake:
The lure of walking the 18th fairway once again and see the Indian flag fluttering kept him going before an ailing Anirban Lahiri bowed out of The Open Championship with a second straight three-over-par 75.
The 27-year-old Lahiri had been suffering from fever since Monday evening.
“If it was any other tournament, I may have pulled out, said Lahiri. Under tough conditions, Lahiri dropped three bogeys and one double bogey but managed to sink two birdies, including one on the last hole. The Indian, who has won once this season and posted three more top-10s on the Asian Tour, said he wasn’t sure if he would conclude his round under the steamy conditions.
“I had bad fever and body ache and I was contemplating at one time whether to play or not, (but) because I wanted to walk down the 18th and see the Indian flag, I decided to tee up,” said Lahiri.
“My manager and Bradleys chatted with me and put me in the right mood to play. I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish the round. Around the 7th or 8th I was feeling bad, but I am glad though that I played. It was a great learning experience,” he added.
“I spoke to my father. I have had fever since Monday. It has to be some viral. I keep getting body ache and shivers. It keeps returning every night, and I have seen it before and my Dad diagnosed it. I took paracetamol and brufen and that helped me to two play at least two days.”
Lahiri finished with justified reward in the form of a birdie on the 18th to card a second successive 75 but his total of 150 was not enough to keep him on for the weekend.
“That birdie at the very last was some compensation. I had felt disappointed at not being able to get a birdie at either 16 or 18 yesterday. I made up somewhat today,” said Lahiri.
