Anirban Lahiri ready for Open challenge

Hoylake: Buoyed by the experience of playing his final practice round with in-form and two-time Major champion, Germany`s Martin Kaymer, Anirban Lahiri is all ready to fight it out at the British Open Championship, starting at the Royal Liverpool here on Thursday.

Kaymer has won the US Open and the Players` Championships this year. "It was a great round of golf. It was awesome fun. He`s a nice guy and very down to earth. Obviously he is a fantastic player. It was nice to play and get to know him. We spoke a little bit about football (Germany won the World Cup on Sunday) and a bit of this and that. It was a fun day," said Lahiri. One of the only seven Indians to played the Open, Lahiri will become the first to make the cut more than once if he is still in the fray on the weekend. The four Indians who have made the cut are Jyoti Randhawa (2004), Jeev Milkha Singh (2012), Lahiri (2012) and Shiv Kapur (2013). Lahiri, who will tee off with EurAsia Cup teammate Koumei Oda and Ben Martin tomorrow, limited his practice after his round with Kaymer due to a slight fever, which he picked up earlier in the week. "I was a little jetlagged. I`ve got a low grade fever. It also happened to me the last time I was here (the 2012 Open) when I got a fever on Monday. I wouldn`t mind a similar finish," smiled Lahiri. The 27-year-old four-time winner on Asian Tour, who marked his debut at the world`s oldest Major with a hole-in-one in 2012, is also due to play the PGA Championships, the season`s last Major, next month. Lahiri`s record in Asia has been excellent with two wins and 10 other top-10s, which include three runner-up finishes, over the past 18 months. He has also risen to 86th and was as high as 61st a few weeks ago. "The last 18 months has been tremendous, not just in terms of where my career has gone but also in terms of learning and growth and also coming of age as a person and professional. One of the good things was playing with top class players globally renowned as ball strikers like Sergio (Garcia) and Henrik (Stenson). "It was nice to play with them to know where you are against where you need to be. It`s been an important part in learning in golf," he said. Lahiri, who some years back took to Vipassana meditation to deal with impatience and anger, said, "My career graph has been on the upper trend but it`s been bumpy. I`ve relied on meditation throughout this period which has helped me a lot. I have to try really hard to stay calm. It`s not something that comes naturally to me. "As a kid, I had major anger management issues and anxiety issues. Having learned to overcome that, it`s my tendencies to fall back on that and I have to work really hard and stay conscientious on that," he added.