The 21-year-old was busy shifting accommodation two weeks ago in Bangalore when he was told he was first, and not third, replacement in the big-ticket, star-spangled Singapore Open, which concluded two weeks ago.

Here in the city on Sunday for a promotional event, speaking to The Indian Express, Lahiri recalled the frantically-arranged evening flight that took him straight to dreamland.

The Bangalore boy was put bang in the middle of the event’s marquee group, paired with Phil Mickelson and Thaworn Wiratchant after Englishman Poulter lost his “lucky driver” in Shanghai the week before and chose to withdraw.

But it had all looked a bleak possibility when the tour rookie first landed among the big names in the $5 million flagship Asian Tour event, severely short on sleep, jet-lagged, and unsure of his place in the draw. A day before the first round, Lahiri was planning his return back to India after the draws were put out and signs of him getting in looked as good as gone.

“They had two days of pro-am, so I’d barely managed to get myself a practice round on Tuesday afternoon. I was in no frame of mind to play. Then at 7 pm on Wednesday, they told me I had a 7 am tee-off time with Mickelson and Wiratchant,” laughed Lahiri.

The morning after the long night had him excited and filled with nervous anticipation. “For the first few holes I felt slightly nervous. But it was alright once I was concentrating on my round,” Lahiri said.

With an afternoon tee-off for the second round, he got the full blow of the American world No 3’s popularity. “I came onto the tee in the afternoon, and there must’ve been at least 300 people there!” said Lahiri. “Playing in that atmosphere was fun, and that’s when we also spoke a lot, he (Mickelson) wanted to know my story, how I had started playing.”

With rounds of 80 and 76, Lahiri failed to make the cut, but relished the experience. “I also got to spend good time with people like Arjun Atwal, Jeev Milkha Singh, etc, so the whole week was great, though I do wish my game could’ve been better.”