Lahiri continues his dream run, earns European Tour card

Anirban Lahiri continued his dream run in 2014 by earning a European Tour card for the first time in his career after finishing inside the top-25 at the European Tour Q-School Final Stage in Girona, Spain.

Lahiri (65-68-66-73-75-72) carded an even-par-72 in the sixth and final round of the event yesterday to claim tied 16th place at nine-under-419.

Mikko Korhonen of Finland won the event with a 20-under-408 total.

The top-25 and ties were slated to seal their cards for the 2015 Race to Dubai at the end of the six-day event. As three players were tied on 25th after six rounds, a total of 27 players qualified for the 2015 European Tour season.

Anirban, who was tied second till the fourth round, made the cut with a comfortable margin despite dropping five places from his overnight tied 11th position after his final round of 72. SSP Chowrasia, the only other Indian to appear at the European Tour Q-School for 2015, missed the cut at the end of round four.

The European Tour berth is the icing on the cake for Lahiri who has scaled new heights in 2014. The 27-year-old from Bangalore already has two titles under his belt on the Asian Tour this year and is currently ranked second on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

Anirban, who turned professional back in 2007, posted his first overseas win this year and as a result climbed to his career-high world ranking of 64.

Lahiri will now be the second Indian after Shiv Kapur to play on the European Tour as a full card member in 2015.

Besides Kapur, the other Indians who have had European Tour cards in the past include Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal, SSP Chowrasia and Gaganjeet Bhullar.