Sport - Golf

Shiv Kapur to bid for British Open berth

LONDON: Indian presence in next week's British Open, the third of the four Majors, will depend on Shiv Kapur who will play to qualify for the Open when he competes in the Local Final Qualifying in Scotland over the weekend.

He will play his 36-hole qualifier over Saturday and Sunday.

A couple of other Asian Tour players will also be in the race. They are American Ron Won and Australian Anthony Summers who are among the 384 players registered to compete in the 36-hole qualifiers to be played over four venues.

A total of 12 spots are available for the Open at St. Andrews, with the top three finishers at each qualifying venue earning their dream tickets.

Shiv Kapur is hoping to be the only Indian qualifier at St. Andrews this year following unsuccessful attempts by Jyoti Randhawa, Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Amandeep Johl among others.

Kapur, the 2002 Asian Games gold medallist, is playing in his first full season on the Asian Tour where he has produced two top-20s to lie in 65th place in the Order of Merit.

Kapur won a couple of times on the Indian Tour, where he finished third on the Order of Merit in his rookie year as a pro.

Kapur and Summers will tee up at Lundin Links while Won will play at Scotscraig. — PTI

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