DUNBAR, UK: India’s Shiv Kapur battled miserable cold and wet conditions in Dunbar on Tuesday to qualify for the British Open later this month at Muirfield.
Kapur, 31 is into only his second Open Championship appearance after finishing the joint second leading qualifier at the Dunbar course to the east of Edinburgh.
It was one of four courses hosting qualifying and with the New Delhi-born Kapur among 288 players seeking to grab the three spots on offer at each course.
Kapur, who last competed in the 2006 Open won by Tiger Woods at Hoylake, got off to a brilliant start when he eagled the second hole in the morning 18 holes.
He ended up posting a one under par 69 and after a short lunch break Kapur came back out to set a new course record of a six under par 64.
However the record lasted just over an hour before Australia’s John Wade shot a 63 and to join Kapur in qualifying for golf’s oldest Major.
Kapur capped his second round with five birdies over his closing 10 holes.
“It’s a great feeling to get through,” said Kapur. “I could have got into the International Final Qualifier at Sunningdale but I wanted to try to qualify on a links course because I think that’s the proper way to do it.
“It was the first time I had played a links course since this time last year so it was all a bit strange to start with but I soon got the hang of things again. I played beautifully this afternoon. In fact I felt I left a lot of shots out there but I suppose that’s what everybody says.”
Meanwhile, former world number two Colin Montgomerie blew his chance of taking part in this month’s British Open after a second-round 76 left him three over par in qualifying on Tuesday.
The 2010 European Ryder Cup captain was one shot off the lead after an opening-round 69 during Local Final Qualifying at Gullane in Scotland before a round of 76, featuring four bogeys and a double bogey, saw him miss out by four strokes.“I got to five under and threw it away - never mind,” the 50-year-old Scot said in a news release. “It’s not my schedule. I just played badly this afternoon. I didn’t get going at all.”
Montgomerie, who won a record eight order of merit titles on the European Tour between 1993 and 2005, has never won a major despite several close calls with five runner-up spots among a total of 10 top-10 finishes.
The 142nd British Open will commence on July 18 at the Muirfield course. REUTERS
