European Masters: Shiv Kapur hopes to shine bright

July 22, 2015: India’s Shiv Kapur believes the warm and sunny conditions will favour the Asian contingent as they tee up for the Omega European Masters which starts on Thursday.

Moving away from its traditional September date to a week after The Open in July this year, players from the region’s premier Tour were welcomed by familiar weather conditions when they arrived at the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club that is situated amidst the majestic Swiss Alps.

“The weather has made it a little more friendly towards the Asians and I think you’ll see a stronger Asian challenge this year,” said Kapur of the summer heat.

“The key is to know how far to hit the ball and the distances they go. Judging and trusting the distance that the ball goes is a huge factor to doing well this week,” added the 33-year-old.

Kapur’s best result on the Asian Tour this season was a tied-11th finish in Thailand earlier in the year. He managed to qualify but missed the cut for the U.S. Open last month and ended his campaign in Scotland tied for 41st a fortnight ago.

While his recent form has been inconsistent, the one-time Asian Tour winner is confident of hitting top form again.

“The year’s been pretty frustrating as it has been up and down and I’ve been quite inconsistent. I feel like I’ve been playing well but the results are just not showing.

“Qualifying for the U.S. Open was a nice result for me and I felt like I found a bit of form at the Scottish Open then.

“I haven’t really kicked on and I’m hoping to do that in the second half of the year,” said Kapur.

The Indian contingent will be represented by seven heavyweights that include Kapur, Jeev Milkha Singh, Anirban Lahiri, S.S.P. Chawrasia, Jyoti Randhawa, Digvijay Singh and Ganganjeet Bhullar.

The Omega European Masters is the only event on European soil to be jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour since 2009.

David Lipsky of the United States inked his place in the record books when he became the first Asian Tour member to win the Swiss showpiece by defeating England’s Graeme Storm at the first play-off hole last year.