Moving houses could lead to misplaced golf clubs. Luckily for Anirban Lahiri, he had his driver intact when Ian Poulter lost his thousands of kilometres away in Singapore.

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.

... contd.