Rochester, (New York), May 18 (PTI) Indian ace Anirban Lahiri will return to Major action after a full year as he tees up at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club this week.
The 35-year-old golfer, who was tied 5th at the same event in 2015, has since not been able to replicate that performance.
It will be Lahiri’s 18th Major, the most by an Indian, but only the third since he missed the cut at the 2019 US Open. Since the end of last season, the 2022 Players Championship runner-up has moved to the LIV series and has not played on the PGA TOUR.
Lahiri, who has moved his base from the US to Dubai, recently lost his mother-in-law, and missed some events. He has since been back in action and is keen to put on a good show to stay inside top 100 in the world.
Meanwhile, Korea’s rising star Tom Kim is ready for the big test alongside the game’s best stars as he starts in his third PGA Championship.
The 20-year-old Kim, who is already a two-time PGA TOUR winner, is among a strong Asian contingent gathered for the year’s second major which delivered the region’s first male major champion in Korea’s YE Yang, who triumphed in 2009 at Hazeltine.
Fellow Korean Sungjae Im, who missed last year’s PGA due to Covid-19, will tee up at Oak Hill in good form following a home victory on the Korean PGA Tour last week.
Other Asian hopefuls keen to make an impression at the challenging par-70 Oak Hill layout include Si Woo Kim, K.H. Lee and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, winner of the 2021 Masters.
Kim had missed the cut in two previous appearances in the PGA Championship in 2020 and last year, but he has slowly made his impression at the majors with a 23rd place finish at the U.S. Open followed by a tie for 47th at The Open Championship last year.
Last month, the talented Korean finished joint 16th in his Masters Tournament debut.
The year’s second Major will see Justin Thomas defending his title this week against the likes of World No. 1 Jon Rahm, the second ranked Scottie Scheffler and reigning FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy.
Kim doesn’t quite mind seeing himself as an underdog as this is only his second year on the PGA TOUR but following an impressive past 12 months, he feels he has also done enough to enter any week with the knowledge and confidence that he has a chance to win like any other top player.
Oak Hill will host its seventh major championship this week and first since the 2013 PGA Championship. The venue has held three PGA Championships (1980/Jack Nicklaus, 2003/Shaun Micheel and 2013/Jason Dufner) and three US Open (1956/Cary Middlecoff, 1968/Lee Trevino, 1989/Curtis Strange).
Thirty-five players who competed in the 2013 PGA Championship are in the 2023 field, led by Adam Scott, who finished tied 5th.
Source: PTI News
