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The legendary Tiger Woods has heaped praise on Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri, saying he has the potential to win a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, at which golf has now been included for for the first time since 1904. He said that should such a thing happen, the sport would ‘explode’ in the Indian market.
Woods is currently hosting top golfers from around the globe, Lahiri among them, in the Hero World Challenge through the Tiger Woods Foundation. "Anirban, I am sure will be a part of the Olympics and he will be great and hopefully he wins. That will be an explosion for all of India," Woods told Indian reporters at an interaction at the Albany Golf course in Nassau.
Woods, who has been out of action due to a back injury for over a year, shared his experience with other India golfers namely Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal. "I got a chance to play with Jeev (Milkha Singh) in his first Masters and Arjun (Atwal); I got to know him all those years. They are my best friends. I got to know these guys are on a different level and have been lot of fun over the years. What they have been doing for Indian golf and now what Anirban is doing, it's been fun to watch," he said.
The veteran belives that Lahiri is the next torchbearer of Indian Golf after Singh and Atwal. Lahiri is making his Hero World Challenge debut after competing in the President’s Cup last month.
"What Anirban is trying to do is that he went from the Asian Tour to the European tour to the American Tour, that itself is very hard. That much of travelling is tough. Trying to figure out how many times he's going to play on which Tour.”"How much travel he is going to be doing? Where his home base is going to be? That will take a toll on you overtime. Time will tell how he is going to cope with all these things and hopefully he does great. Getting to know him over the last couple of years has been fun, so I not only wish him success over this week but also in future," said Woods.
Golf was once considered exclusively an elite sport, away from its reach. It changed long ago when India found its heroes in Singh, Atwal, and now Lahiri. Woods is also of the opinion that the touraments such as the Hero World Challenge has helped the game grow in India.
