Jersey City (USA): For the second day in succession, Anirban Lahiri produced a brilliant comeback in the closing stages of the President’s Cup and rallied from the brink to snatch half a point in his singles match against World No.24 Kevin Kisner on the final day here.
The Indian also earned a new nickname from close friend, Emiliano Grillo, who put a makeshift placard in front his name before the official Press Conference began and called the Indian, Anirban ‘Big Balls’ Lahiri raising laughs and applause.
Lahiri, who came pointless to this edition of the Presidents Cup and stayed that way even after his fourballs match, won 1.5 points out of two over the weekend.
In the process, Lahiri earned everyone’s respect, including that of three-time Major champion Jordan Spieth, who came up to him on the 18th and congratulated on him on his great fightback over the weekend.
The Internationals won six singles, halved three and lost just three out of the 12 to win the final session 7.5 – 4.5 Sunday. The fighting Internationals’ outfit also felled three Major champions.
Lahiri, while speaking about the final day and his own performance, said, “In the morning, vice-captain Tony Johnstone mentioned to me that our heaviest loss was when we scored 10.5 points. I just wanted to make sure we finished on more than that.
“I was disappointed I played poorly in the middle part of the round, made a lot of unforced errors and bad club. Then I just tried to fight as hard as I could. But the way the team fought back today (Sunday) after the first four sessions was magnificent and very pleasing.
“It has been a good Sunday, but it was disastrous otherwise. We have learned a lot and I am sure we will regroup before Melbourne in 2019,” he added.
After beginning the day 3.5 to 14.5, the Internationals made the final score a respectable 11-19. This was the seventh successive Presidents Cup win for the US, who have now won the Cup 10 times in 12 editions, losing just once and the event was tied once.
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