Anirban Lahiri has his eyes trained on the 50th Hero Indian Open, starting November 7 at the Delhi Golf Club - a course where he has enjoyed huge success.
The tree-lined and narrow DGC is rated as one of the most difficult golf courses on the Asian Tour but Lahiri has enjoyed great outings winning three Asian Tour titles here.
"A lot of the players fear DGC, it's probably one of the feared courses on Tour. I'm comfortable at the Delhi Golf Club. For me, the Indian Open has been good, moving from one favourite venue to another. I'm looking forward to a win," said Lahiri.
Lahiri said that winning his National Open remains as one of his top priorities in his golfing career. He has enjoyed some measure of success in the Indian Open in the past, finishing tied third, 15th and fifth in 2009, 2011 and 2012 respectively.
"It's going to be a historic event. Everyone mention it's such an important event for the Indians, there is so much history and tradition behind it. It's like a major for all of us. I know Jeev (Milkha Singh) even he wants to win the Indian Open before he retires.
"That's what it means to someone like Jeev who has won so many events around the world. Being the 50th year, it's going to be special. It's one of the longest running in Asia and one of our biggest," said the 26-year-old Lahiri.
He said the Indian Open has played a huge part in launching the careers of many Indian golfers including three-time winner Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal, who is the first Indian to win on the PGA Tour and C Muniyappa.
"It would be very special if I can win it. When I was playing junior golf, everyone wanted to turn amateur very quickly as the top amateurs get to play in the Indian Open. It's a very special event even to play as an amateur. We tried our heart out as an amateur just to play and to win it would be absolutely fantastic," he said.
