Anirban Lahiri

Lahiri was able to post a pair of top-5s (one in an alternate event) in an otherwise benign year and it was just enough for him to keep his card for another season. He was able to find some increased distance off-the-tee, but he's been a below-average iron player since coming on tour. It's hard to be too optimistic about his chances of having a better season next year, and he may be relegated to the Korn Ferry Tour when all is said and done.

A rib injury hindered Lahiri's performance during the fall series in 2019, but he then remained sideline from the Arnold Palmer Invitational until the Wyndham Championship due to an undisclosed reason. This may have been related to pandemic travel restrictions, however. Nonetheless, Lahiri made just five cuts in 13 starts during his 2019-20 campaign, failing to collect a single top-25 result in the process.

Finishing outside of the top-125 in the FedEx Cup standings for the first time since 2015, Lahiri had no choice but to participate in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals after notching just two top-25s on the PGA Tour this past season. He'll retain his card thanks to top-10s at the KFT's Albertsons Boise Open and Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, but Lahiri's value remains extremely limited moving forward as he ranked just 176th in SG: Tee-to-Green and 177th in GIR percentage during his 2018-19 campaign.

Lahiri broke through during the 2016-2017 season when he picked up a pair of top-3s on his way to nearly $2 million in earnings. It was just his second full season on the PGA Tour which meant we didn't have enough history to guess where he was going. While he didn't take his game to the next level last season, he didn't take a step backward either. The lower cap number leaves him in a spot where it's reasonable to take a chance on him this season. The odd thing about Lahiri is, his putting was much better last season than the season prior. If he's able to maintain that level of putting this season, he should be near his 2016-2017 numbers again this season.

Lahiri made a huge jump from two seasons ago to last season as his earnings went from $835k to just under $2 million. The question surrounding Lahiri is – is this just the beginning or is this his ceiling? With only a couple years on the PGA Tour under his belt, it's tough to tell if he has more upside than he showed last season or if he's peaked. In cases like these, it's wise to take the safe route and simply wait and see what he does this year. With all of these questions, Lahiri's number is too much of an investment for the upcoming season.

Lahiri is no stranger to success on the golf course, but much of that success has come overseas. His first stint on the PGA Tour last season was fairly successful as he played well enough to retain his card for the upcoming season, but he failed to make much of a splash. It wasn't his play on Thursday-Friday that was the issue as he made the cut in 16 of 21 starts, but rather his play on the weekend which kept him from having a great season. With one full year on the PGA Tour under his belt, expect Lahiri to get his weekend issues figured out and for this season to be much better. With that in mind, Lahiri is a solid salary cap play this year and should go near the eighth or ninth round in a draft.