Ace Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri will see action once again when he goes out with Adam Scott in the Four-ball on the third day of the Presidents Cup.
Lahiri sat out the second and third sessions and International Team Captain Nick Price was confident that the Indian pro would be better off in Fourball (Better ball) format, more so with some experienced.
Scott is playing his seventh Presidents Cup and is the most experienced player on the team, while Lahiri is playing his first. Price felt that Scott would be a great influence for the Presidents Cup rookie Lahiri.
"Sitting four guys is never easy. It's a tough decision. But we felt like we're putting the guys who are playing the best out there, our eight best out there. Obviously Anirban had not played since Thursday, so we have to play him this afternoon, and I think he's going to be more comfortable in better-ball than he was in alternate-shot. And I put him with Adam, because I think Adam's going to be a wonderful influence for him," said Price.
Speaking on the pairing for the afternoon session of the third day, Price added, "So there's a couple of automatics that we did there: Louis and Branden who played so well this week; and then Jason and Charl; and Hideki and Moon (Sangmoon Bae), I think those two are very comfortable playing with each other."
Asked about Anirban's showing, Price said, "In hindsight, he (Anirban) and Thongchai played so well together in the practice round in Tuesday and then again on Wednesday, I thought they would be a really good fit. And I think they were both a little nervous and a little apprehensive."
"And in hindsight, I may have changed Anirban and played him in better-ball for yesterday (Friday), as I think he would probably be a little more calmer if I put him with someone more experienced. That's not to say that Thongchai is not experienced."
He went on, "This week is a huge learning experience for us, it really is. There's five guys on the team who I really, as much as I try and follow the game and their games, I really didn't know an awful lot about their games until this week."
Pairing for Fourball:
Holmes/Bubba Watson vs Oosthuizen/Grace, Mickelson/Z Johnson vs Scott/Lahiri, Walker/Kirk vs Bae/Matsyuama, Day/Schwartzel vs Reed/Spieth.
