Olympics Begin In
:
Days
:
Hours
:
Mins
 
Secs
Begin typing your search above and press return to search.

Golf

'Kalahari Barbarian': Anirban Lahiri's historic performance causes severe confusion back home

Why was a South African local cricket club and Lakshya Sen evoked as golfer Anirban Lahiri claimed the biggest prize of his career?

Kalahari Barbarian: Anirban Lahiris historic performance causes severe confusion back home
X

Anirban Lahiri reacts after slipping down to second spot (Screenshot)

By

The Bridge Desk

Updated: 15 March 2022 6:23 AM GMT

Golfer 'Barbarian Kalahari' briefly set the tees on fire at The Players Championship in the USA late on Monday night as India struggled to come to terms with one of their own leading the field at a top-tier global tournament.

Anirban Lahiri, ranked 322 in the world, eventually finished second, but not before causing severe confusion among fans back home.

A leading Indian television channel reported that India's 'Barbarian Kalahari' was leading the Players Championship in Florida on Monday night. The Kalahari Barbarians are actually a local cricket team in South Africa, who can be assumed to have been nowhere close to the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida - where Anirban Lahiri was in fact on the brink of history.

Lahiri's second-place pay cheque ($2.2M) is the biggest of his career and more than what he has earned in any full year of his 10-year PGA Tour career. The amount translates to around 17 crore INR.

However, even though the world celebrated him as a veteran golfer who had achieved a surprisingly good result after years on the tour, back home, the 34-year-old was being touted as a 'next generation' athlete like 20-year-old Lashya Sen.

"I'm just relieved. I've gone through two years of playing horrible," Lahiri said at the press conference after his second-placed finish.

"The last time I contended in a field this good was 5 years ago... It's been a long time since I've been in this position and I've played like this in a quality field like this. It's huge. Because if you go through such a lean period for such a long time you ask yourself, was that a flash in the pan? Your belief takes a hit," he said.

As he was leading the field over the weekend, Lahiri received global support as the most remarkable underdog sports story of the week. An 'AsiaRising' hashtag trended on Twitter as Asian golf fans rallied behind the Indian.

Next Story