Don’t worry about Anirban Lahiri. A week after missing out on his first international title since the 2015 Hero Indian Open in the cruellest possible manner – missing a two-feet putt that he would have made 99 out of 100 times blindfolded – the Indian ace was back to his usual exuberant self and ready for this week’s LIV Golf UK challenge.

Claude Harmon III, the well-known coach and son of renowned swing coach Butch Harmon, walked into a virtually empty JCB Golf & Country Club on Monday and saw only one player practicing – Lahiri.

As the American was contemplating walking up to the putting green and commiserating, Lahiri quipped: “Don’t worry. Just practicing my two-footers!”

The 37-year-old has gathered his wits and is smiling again. More importantly, what he also gathered on the 18th green of Valderrama was an invaluable lesson in golf, and life. And he reckons it will help immensely in the future – it ain’t over till it’s over.

“I think there was a lot of shock involved with what happened because the mistake I made was that in my head, I thought it was over. It obviously wasn’t,” said Lahiri, who lost the ensuing playoff to home favourite Sergio Garcia.

“I was completely in my bubble. In fact, I did not know if I was leading or trailing when I hit my tee shot on the 18th hole. That’s when I asked my caddie (Tim Giuliano) about what we needed to do.

“I had done everything right until then, but while I waited for Danny (Lee) and Martin (Kaymer) to putt out, I kind of popped out of that bubble, and rushed into the two-footer. I hit it dead centre of the cup, which wasn’t the line. I didn’t spend enough time, and I didn’t go through my processes.

“The big lesson to learn was that it is not over until the ball is holed out. Have I made worse mistakes in my career? Yes. It was a small mistake, but it was a very costly one. It was very painful, but it doesn’t debilitate me. In fact, it is something that fuels me. I know it will make me a better golfer. I may make other mistakes, but I am certainly not making a similar error.”

It was a mistake that cost him financially (the winner’s cheque was $4 million, compared to the $2.25 million he earned as runners-up), but it was a bigger disappointment that he could not get over the line and end a nine-year winless streak. That’s something that he aims to pursue with renewed vigour and hope.

“There are a lot of things to be proud of. When I lost the Open Championship playoff in the qualifier the week before, it led me to question my attitude. I decided I wanted to play cleaner, simpler golf, and I am happy I did all those things and put myself in a position to win again,” said Lahiri, the only contracted Indian in LIV Golf.

“To be honest, these two weeks are definitely downers. However, if that is what a downer looks like, I will take it. I don’t want to lose sight of everything else that I did. I don’t want six minutes of playing like an idiot to overshadow and take everything away from the 53-and-three-quarter holes I played with the right attitude.”

Lahiri spent the last week in Spain with his wife Ipsa and kids, Tisya and Avyaan, and says he felt refreshed and ready to have another go at this week’s LIV Golf UK at JCB Golf & Country Club.

“The first 2-3 nights, every time I’d shut my eyes, I’d find myself on the 18th green of Valderrama,” said Lahiri. “I’m excited for every week, but ‘excitement’ would be the wrong word this week.

“It’s just this intense eagerness that I want to test myself again. Of course, I’d always want to win a golf tournament, but I just want to go out and push myself again and see how I deal with whatever situation I’m in, whether I’m playing well or not.”

Lahiri is paired with Crushers Captain Bryson DeChambeau and teammate Paul Casey and will tee off at 1415 UK time (1845 IST) from the first tee on Friday.

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