St. Andrews (Scotland), July 15 (IANS): Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri delivered a frank assessment of his build-up and expectations of The Open as he gears up for the world's oldest Major which begins on Thursday.
The current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader arrived at the home of golf here for the first time this week and is quick to sing praises of the links course.
"It's nice to be here and you want to be here as often as you can. This is my first time in St. Andrews and I already like how the course sets itself up. For me it's good. You got to favour the left side for most of the tee shots which is my natural shot shape. There are a few scoring holes out there and you got to get through the first few holes strongly. I've more or less got my strategy in place," said the 28-year-old.
Expectations are going to be high for Lahiri as he spearheads the Asian challenge alongside the regions' heavyweights such as Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat, China's Liang Wen-chong. However, the Indian believes he will be up to the task.
"This is my third Open and I'm as comfortable as I can be. I know most of these guys by first name and it's different from the time when I was still a wide-eyed boy. This (playing at The Open) is not unusual anymore," said Lahiri.
A seven-time Asian Tour winner, Lahiri has won four tournaments that included two victories in co-sanctioned events with the European Tour in Malaysia and India in the last 15 months. Since then, he has further honed his game by spending the last five months in Europe and the United States in his preparation bid for Major glory.
While results may have been patchy for Lahiri outside Asia, he believes all that is going to change with the reunion of his partnership with his caddie Rajiv.
"I had my good and bad runs. Having said that, my golf has not been bad but it has been littered with a lot of casual mistakes. But a big change is that I've got Rajiv back on my bag who last carried it during the Indian Open," said Lahiri.
"He'll be starting this week through the end of the year. So he's going to be bringing lots of positivity to my game. We work together very well especially in the mental aspect. He understands how I think and operates and he knows how to bring out the best in me. That's why he's back."
Lahiri will be playing alongside South Africa's George Coetzee and Spain's Rafa Cabrera-bello in his opening round and is praying that a little divine help can set him on his way towards a spectacular run at The Open.
"I got a decent draw as I'll be starting out in the middle of the day. It'll depend on how the winds play out. Oosthuizen proved in 2010 that it's important to have a little favour from the wind gods and hopefully it works out for me as well," said Lahiri.