Anirban Lahiri secures creditable 20th place in Race to Dubai Rankings

Dubai: Indian ace golfer Anirban Lahiri, a rookie on the European Tour in 2015, closed the season at an impressive 20th position in the Race To Dubai Rankings after his tied 34th finish at the season-ending DP World Tour golf Championship here.

Lahiri, who earned his card for 2015 through the European Tour Qualifying School, claimed wins at the Maybank Malaysian Open and Indian Open and also set an Indian record for the best Major finish with his tied fifth at the PGA Championship during a memorable season. He totaled 1,558,111 Race to Dubai points for the year.

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, the world number three, won the Race to Dubai title with a tally of 4,727,253 points.

The 28-year-old Anirban took the world of golf by storm this year with two wins and five other top-10s worldwide to climb as high as 33 in the world rankings.

The Bengaluru lad appeared at all four Majors and made his presence felt at the British Open with a tied 30th finish before his phenomenal top-5 at the PGA Championship.

Lahiri, who recently became the first Indian to play in the International Team at the Presidents Cup, has had a power-packed 2015 season, having made an impact across three continents.

The Indian star not only posted top results in Europe and the United States but also dominated the Asian Tour in 2015. He has all but sealed the Asian Tour Order of Merit race as he leads the money list by an unassailable margin of over USD 600,000.

Lahiri has amassed record earnings of USD 1,139,084 during the 2015 Asian Tour season to set the stage for his ascendancy to the status of Asia no. 1 for the first time.

Anirban, having earned his PGA Tour card recently, will now make the progression from Europe to the United States next season.

The Indian quartet of SSP Chawrasia (113th), Shiv Kapur (126th), Jeev Milkha Singh (133rd) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (210th), finished outside the top-110 in the European Tour Race to Dubai rankings which was the cut-off for the exemption.