Anirban Lahiri. File Pic
La Quinta, California, Jan 15: Anirban Lahiri returns to the American Express after a gap of two years as he tees up at the event, which uses three golf courses over the first three days.
Lahiri, who missed the cut at Sony Open last week by one shot, last played the event in 2017, when it still called the CareerBuilder Challenge prior to which it was also known as thee Bob Hope Desert Classic, too.
Lahiri’s previous two starts at the event saw him finish T-28 in 2016 and T25 in 2017. Both times he shot 64 at the La Quinta course, which is considered one of the easiest on the Tour.
In the first round on Thursday, Lahiri goes out with Mark Hubbard and two other amateurs at the Stadium Course. Lahiri’s best at the Stadium course, considered the toughest of the three, has been 71 in both rounds in 2016. In 2017 he shot 72 and 73 in his two rounds there.
Now in his fifth year on the PGA Tour, Lahiri has not had a great start to the 2019-20 season. He got his card back with T-7 (Nationwide Children’s Hospital Open) and T-5 (Albertsons Boise) in two starts of the Korn Ferry Final series and since then in seven starts he has made the cut only twice with T-45 at Sanderson Farms as his best.
So, a good finish will be very important as he also plays the Farmer’s Insurance next week.
The event which is played as Pro-Am will be hosted by Phil Mickelson this time. The players tee off once each at The Stadium Course at PGA West (Par-72), Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West (Par-72) and La Quinta Country Club (Par-72). The cut this week will come after 54 holes and the top 65 teams return to The Stadium Course for the final round.
The $6.7 million event is worth a record $1.26 million and 500 FedExCup points for the winner. ,
The new rotation was established in 2016 and will be the focus of my history this week. Sure, La Quinta has been in play since 2010, but it annually rates as one of the easiest tracks on TOUR.
With the absence of rough, wind and weather, low scores are the requirement this week. None of the courses in use this week go over over 7,200 low scores will be the order.
This week Pete Dye will also be celebrated, as The Stadium Course at PGA West, designed by him, will also be in use.
Read also:
Meditation, time with family refreshes Lahiri ahead of start in Hawaii
