Kapur makes memorable return to Chandigarh at Jeev Invitational

By Rahul Banerji

Spurred by the autumn nip in the air, Shiv Kapur made a memorable return to Chandigarh with a course record-equalling seven under par 65 on the first day of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational presented by TAKE Solutions on Thursday.

Playing in the City Beautiful after 20 years, the four-time Asian Tour winner turned in a flawless round at the Chandigarh Golf Club for a one-shot lead in the Rs 1.5 crore event.

The bogey-free effort saw him match the previous course record set by Mukesh Kumar, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Gaurav Ghei and Ranjit Singh.

Chandigarh lads Karandeep Kochhar (66) and Abhijit Singh Chadha (67) were hard on Kapur’s heels in second and tied third place respectively. Om Prakash Chouhan (67) of Mhow was alomgside Chadha.

Slow start

Tournament host Jeev made a slow start with a 77 that had him tied 99^th.

At the Turkish Airlines Open in Belek-Antalya, meanwhile, Shubhankar Sharma turned in a one-under par card of to lie six shots behind first day leader Paul Dunne of Ireland. 

For 36-year-old Kapur, appearing in a professional event at the CGC for the first time, it was a tale of two halves. He last played at the venue as a junior back in 1998 at a tournament he was to win.

Kapur took time to find his feet as he managed birdies on the 13^th and 15^th but also missed some opportunities on the outward nine.

Good conversions

He then settled down and opened a lead with five birdies on the front nine which included four conversions from 10 to 15 feet.

The Delhi-based Kapur, who made a grand comeback with three titles on the Asian Tour in 2017 after an 11-year-long title drought, said, “I last played as a junior here but I have some good memories from those days.

“I like the layout here as one needs to shape the ball both ways.

“Most greens are different here in terms of the pace, so I was just trying to settle down in the first half.

“I felt I got into the groove in the second half of my round as I converted my opportunities on the greens.

“When I moved to four-under for the day on the fourth, the confidence was soaring and I knew I could end up with a pretty good score.

“Importantly, I didn’t drop any shots today and missed just two greens and two fairways. I would like to improve on the par-5s though as I didn’t really play them well today.”

Clean card

Kochhar, fresh from a top-20 at last week’s Panasonic Open India in Delhi, also produced a flawless effort to trail the leader by one.

The 19-year-old sank three of his six birdies from 15 to 20 feet and recovered well from the trees to pick up a shot on the 13^th.

Kochhar, who at 17 became the youngest winner on the PGTI in 2016 while still an amateur, said, “I’m coming into this event at the back of some good scores at last week’s Asian Tour event.

“I shot a five-under and a four-under in my last two rounds in Delhi, so the confidence is high.

Chouhan had an eagle and three birdies and was tied for third with Chadha who returned an eagle, four birdies and a bogey.

Sri Lankan Mithun Perera and Bangalore’s C, Muniyappa were on 68s for tied fifth.

Noida’s Amardip Malik drained two eagles during his round of 69. He was tied seventh along with S.S.P. Chawrasia and Jyoti Randhawa.

Khalin Joshi, India’s newest international winner, shot a 70 to be tied 13^th.

Jeev struggled with his tee shots and had only three birdies against four bogeys and two doubles for his 77.

In Turkey, Shubhankar dropped a late shot to end the day with a one under card even as Irishmen Dunne and Padraig Harrington duelled for the lead.

Sharma is the only Indian in the field and is tied for 31^st alongside 12 others.

Defending champion Justin Rose made a late charge to lie one behind Dunne in shared second place on six under par along with Ryder Cup hero Thorbjorn Olesen and Harrington.

Also read: Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational at Chandigarh GC from November 1