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.”