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Shiv Kapur has tough time at Brit Open
The Indian ace faces a battle for British Open survival after opening his debut appearance at the world's oldest major with a level-par 72.
Indian star Shiv Kapur faces a battle for British Open survival on Friday after opening his debut appearance at the world's oldest major with a level-par 72.
With most of the field taking advantage of near perfect conditions to get their scores into the red, Kapur will miss the halfway cut if he does not improve on his opening round.
Only a birdie at the par five 18th, courtesy of a chip from the rough to six feet, kept Kapur at level par but he felt his score might easily have been a couple of shots better.
"If you'd given me par at the start of the day, I would have taken that but I thought I played better than my score," he said.
"On the back nine, I hit it really well but I missed about three realistic opportunities which I should have made. It was tough getting the ball close and overall, I just hung in there."
Kapur settled his nerves with a brave ten-footer to save par on the first and went on to complete the front nine without any dropped shots.
But a bunkered approach at the long tenth hole cost him a shot and he was unable to get it back until the next par five, the 16th, where he chipped his third shot to within two feet of the pin.
That good work was immediately undone when he three-putted on the 17th but the pain was reduced by a huge cheer from the grandstands for his birdie at the last.
"I had a terrible lie on the 18th but I told myself not to play conservative and hit my third shot close," he said.
"It was the kind of shot where you would hit it close or skull it over the green. I took my chances and got it close."
Kapur said he had thoroughly enjoyed his first major appearance.
"It was pretty cool standing on the first tee this morning," he said. "The crowds were shouting out my name and I had to obligingly nod a few times at them. But I had to get on with my golf eventually. It's tough with the noise going round on the course, which I need to get used to."
Kapur acknowledged he would have some work to do on Friday to ensure he spends the weekend at Hoylake.
"I have to restart the tournament as I'm still in the same position I was at the start," he said. "I have to go out and shoot a good round."
