India’s Anirban Lahiri has targeted a top-10 finish at next week’s British Open at Royal Troon as the reigning Asian Tour number one gears up for a bumper month of golf that ends with the Rio Olympics in August.
Lahiri, who turned 29 last week, finished tied for 31st in his British Open debut in 2012 and will make his fourth appearance at the
championships at the Scottish links from July 14-17.
 “The Open is truly a special tournament,” Lahiri told the Asian Tour. “I’ve had a couple of decent outings but feel like I missed out both times on a top-10 finish. Hopefully Troon suits my eye and I can play consistently throughout the week. A top-10 or better would be my goal this year.”
 “I like playing links courses,” Lahiri added. “You have to be creative and strategically efficient to play well on them. Also I am comfortable flighting down my ball-flight, which is a must in windy conditions.”
 Lahiri, whose tied-fifth finish at the PGA Championship last year is the best by an Indian golfer, feels consistency has been lacking from his game in his first full season on the PGA Tour.
 “It’s been a very slow and sluggish season. I have been inconsistent and have got off to good starts on a few occasions only to have a disappointing weekend. It’s frustrating when your ‘A’ game feels right around the corner but does not show up as frequently as you would like. In any case the first season on a new tour is always the toughest and I’m satisfied that I am in a good position to keep my playing privileges for next year,” he added.
 While a number of top-ranked male golfers have withdrawn from the Rio Games due to Zika fears, Lahiri, ranked 62nd in the world, is excited at the prospect of representing India at the August 5-21 Games, which will see the sport return to the Olympics after a 112-year gap.
 “Managing energy levels and conditioning are a big challenge this season,” Lahiri added. “I will look to skip a few events leading up to the big ones if I feel like I need to take a break. My coach will be here in America for two weeks to work on all aspects of the game and sharpen it up for the majors and the Olympics. Hopefully I can pace myself just right to peak during the majors and Olympics. That’s the goal.”

Tiger’s name on updated list for PGA Championship
Tiger Woods, the former world number one who has been sidelined since last August, was among those listed yesterday in an updated field for the PGA Championship later this month.
 But whether or not he will actually play is still very much uncertain. The 14-time major champion, who last won a major at the 2008 US Open, was among 112 players listed for the year’s final major tournament on July 28-31 at Baltusrol in Springfield, New Jersey.
 Woods, who has not played an event since turning 40 last December, last competed in a major at last year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla, when he made a late arrival at the course and missed the cut.
 Woods played later in August in Greensboro, North Carolina, but has not competed since undergoing a microdiscectomy last September.
 British Open officials announced last week that Woods had withdrawn from this year’s event at Royal Troon, the first time since his 1995 major debut as an amateur that he has missed three majors in the same year.
 Woods, who has slid to 605th in the world rankings, has said he has no timetable for returning and is working as hard and as quickly as possible to recover and return to competition, but that he is being cautious so that he does not return too quickly and suffer a setback in his rehabilitation.
 But Woods also said last month that he did not know if he would be able to return this year. He has until the eve of the tournament to withdraw from the PGA Championship.
 This year’s chase for the Wanamaker Trophy will include top-ranked defending champion Jason Day of Australia, world number two Dustin Johnson, an American who comes off victories at the US Open last month and the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational last weekend, third-ranked Jordan Spieth, last year’s US Open and Masters winner, and Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner from Northern Ireland.
 US left-hander Phil Mickelson, 46, won the 2005 PGA Championship in its most recent playing at Baltusrol. It was the second of his five career major triumphs.