It is not uncommon for players and experts to call Carnoustie, hosting its first Open Championships since 2007, as “Car-nasty” — for that is how heartless and ruthless it is sometimes. It tests your patience, it tests your skill and despite that, it may not yield scores that you desire. Having heard enough gory stories about it and having seen the course first-hand now, both Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma know what they are in for.
Lahiri plays his fifth Open in succession, but it is the first for Sharma, who, however, played and missed the cut at the Masters and the US Open.
Neither expresses nervousness; Sharma can’t wait to experience what The Open and Carnoustie have in store for him, while Lahiri feels “very comfortable” with The Open.
Lahiri says Carnoustie in some ways reminds him of the DGC and, like the DGC, it is a little firmer and a little faster. “Like at the DGC, I am happy hitting 2-irons and staying out of bunkers and keeping the ball in play. The idea is to find the right spots and miss the bad spots; it sounds easy, but it can be done,” said Lahiri, who won four of his seven professional titles, including the best one, the Hero Indian Open, at the DGC.
Sharma celebrated his 22nd birthday on Saturday, and nothing would taste sweeter than making his first Major cut. “Teeing it up for The Open was the best spin-off (from winning the Joburg Open). I am really excited to be here,” said Sharma. “Playing in The Open has been my ‘only’ dream, from the point I started playing golf. I have watched all the past editions on television and I would keep replaying the videos until I feel as if I have played in The Open before.”
Sharma calls the Masters ‘heavenly” and The Open ‘historic’ while reserving the adjective “tough’ for the US Open. “It’s been a great run, but most of all I want to do well. I have gotten to like Links golf in just two appearances. Now I am keen on doing well.”
Admitting to a ‘hunger’ for the Majors after missing the Masters and the US Open, Lahiri said, “It’s not nice to find yourself out of theTop-100 after having been there for some time. It’s also not nice to have missed quite a few Majors in last 18-24 months. It does not feel great to keep asking oneself if one is into British: I was lucky I got in as a member of the President’s Cup team – and now I am asking if I can get into the PGA (the Top-100 get in).”
He admitted, “I spent a lot of months in anxiety and unease, but then I told myself I just need to do what I did before. I know I can contend in the Majors,
‘‘I have done that, and now I must do that again. So I am more relaxed and have put in a lot more work in the summer, something I usually don’t do, with (coach) Vijay (Divecha). I just need to trust myself and put that good work into play.”
Lahiri will tee off with Peter Uihlein and Matt Kuchar at 9.47 am (local time), one group ahead of defending champion, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Sharma will play alongside Bryson DeChambeau and 2016 Masters champion Sergio Garcia as Tiger Woods, Hideki Matsuyama and local man, Russell Knox, follow them in the next group.