Lahiri shows class after missing crucial Presidents Cup putt
Anirban Lahiri will probably think about his last putt on Sunday for a long time.
Lahiri, the first Indian-born player to compete in the Presidents Cup, faced a 4-footer to tie Chris Kirk and earn a critical half-point for the Internationals in their effort to win the biennial matches for the first time since 1998. Kirk had just drained an unlikely 15-foot birdie putt of his own, forcing Lahiri to make to salvage something from the match.
The putt started to go down from the right side of the cup before lipping out to the left. Kirk had won the 18th hole and the match.
“I was pretty sure what the line was and I made a good stroke. But I think I did what I've done all week – misread putts,” Lahiri said. “I have to give credit to Chris for making that putt. These things are scripted I guess, and I wasn't in the script this time.”
Ultimately, the eighth match on Sunday's 12-match card, a matchup of winless rookies, proved hugely important. The whole point Kirk earned was the difference between winning the event and tying.
The U.S. locked up the win in the anchor match, when U.S. captain Jay Haas' son and wild-card pick, Bill, defeated Sangmoon Bae in front of his home South Korean crowd by a 2-up margin.
International captain Nick Price, who successfully lobbied for PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem to cut four matches from the four-day event, said Lahiri shouldn't dwell on one putt.
"I feel so bad for Anirban, as we all do," Price said. "But you can't look back at one shot on the 18th hole. That's often what happens. You look back, there were mistakes made early on in today's round and yesterday's round and Thursday and Friday."
There were plenty, with Price bafflingly choosing to start off the event with a foursomes (alternate shot) session, the weakest format for the Internationals. They got out to a 4-1 deficit and never fully recovered. Price, perhaps aware of his tactical errors as much as his players' competitive ones, said he would make sure Lahiri, who went 0-3-0, would not shoulder the burden of the loss.
"We are going to cheer Anirban up," he said. "We are going to make sure he goes away from here with a wonderful experience and not let him dwell on what happened today."
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
