Lahiri finishes T-42nd at Masters, betters own best

Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri was pulled back by a disastrous front-nine but still managed to better his previous best by signing off tied 42nd with a three-over 75 in the final round of the 80th Masters Tournament here.
Lahiri ended with a total of 11-over 299 to finish tied 42nd and better his previous best of T-49 last year.
Lahiri, starting the day at five-over and in tied-38th place, courted disaster on the third with a triple bogey and had further bogeys on fourth and seventh.
But he played his last 11 holes superbly with two birdies and rest of them pars to finish with 75.

"The two triples (one each on first and last days) and not being able to score off the Par-fives cost me something like 10 shots and that is the difference being in Top-10 or somewhere in the 40s. That should explain it all. I played well in patches and that was not enough," Lahiri said.
Lahiri is planning to take two weeks off and practice with his coach, Vijay Divecha, who arrived over the weekend.

"I want to a few chores around the house, as we settle into a new place in Florida, which will be my base for next few months," said Lahiri.

"Also I need to work on my game and will get back to tournaments in two weeks time at New Orleans."
Asian Tour's Kiradech Aphibarnrat added a two-under 70 in the final round of the Masters to finish Tied 15th, his best ever result in a Major event.
Thongchai Jaidee, playing his fifth Masters, had another frustrating with a six-over 78 that saw him finish the week at 19-over and in Tied-57th place.
Kiradech had rounds of 72-72-77-70. His previous best at any Major was T25 on debut at the 2013 PGA Championship. Overall, Kiradech scored heavily on Par-fives, where he was nine-under with one eagle and nine birdies and two bogeys.

Ahead on the top of the leaderboard, Danny Willett, playing in fourth from last group shot one of the three scores of 67 on Sunday to catapult from Tied-8th to the very top.
He finished more than half an hour earlier than defending champion Jordan Spieth to finish and won by three over fellow Englishman Lee Westwood (69) and Spieth (73).
Lahiri took a big break since his last appearance at the RSM Classic, where he was tied 13th with a stunning 65 on Sunday.
"A holiday with a trek in Peru with my wife was a great experience. I have also worked on my physical fitness, toned the body as I realise that I have to be more athletic. I have worked on my clubs and I am all settled and raring to go," added Lahiri.

Lahiri is also known to be great friends with Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who is the hottest player in the world right now.
The Japanese world no.6 has won four times and finished second twice in his last six starts.
"Hideki is playing the best golf of his life and he is a great guy. We have got along well and we were together on the Presidents Cup team in 2015," Lahiri said.
Talking of the Presidents Cup, Lahiri is eyeing a spot on the event again.
He became the first Indian to make the international team in 2015 and he loved the experience so much that he wants to get back into it.

"That is surely one of my goals for the year. I will work towards that."
In the first round in Hawaii, Lahiri is paired with Camillo Villegas of Colombia and Kiwi Tim Wilkinson.
A total of 144 players are in the field, including several - such as Justin Rose and Zach Johnson -- who are making their 2016-17 season debuts.
In the last four years, the winning score has been 20 under or higher, so expect lots of birdies at Waialae.