Lahiri looks for validation of confidence after Kuala Lumpur miss

After being in the lead on the penultimate day, what he missed was the top purse of Rs 8.5 crore but that was a lesson he would be happy to learn and rectify as he takes a break from the tour before heading for Turkey for his next challenge in November. Lahiri won’t be competing in the big Shanghai event this week where the top PGA leaders wold tee off. 

Though he missed his first PGA win in Kuala Lumpur hitting a tree, Lahiri would take a lot of positives from the event. “Obviously I’ve made a lot of birdies over these last five rounds that I’ve played. I’m in a good place. I’m off to a decent start, good start I would say, on the PGA Tour,” said Lahiri on Sunday.

And the 28-year-old Indian star is confident that he is going to be successful very soon. “Whenever I tee it up next, likely to be in Turkey, hopefully I can put myself in this situation again. The only thing I can look at, if I keep putting myself in contention, I’m bound to convert one sooner rather than later,” he said. 

His confidence is not based on what he did in Kuala Lumpur but he is only concerned about the killer-instinct which has been missing in recent finishes. ”I have the confidence. It’s not like I need additional confidence,” insists the Indian. ”But, I need validation now. I need validation in terms of my game. I need to see that happen. It’s just not happened enough, and it’s been a year of near misses so far.”

In the Asian Tour Order of Merit, Lahiri, the winner last year, is now placed third behind Australians Scott Hend and Marcus Fraser.