Aug 1, 2017: Shiv Kapur of India hopes to make it a double celebration by winning the inaugural TAKE Solutions Masters before welcoming the arrival of his new born baby next week.
Kapur admits that his focus will be divided towards trying to win the US$300,000 Asian Tour event and to the well being of his wife, who is due in the next 10 days or earlier.
It has been a satisfying season so far for the Indian, who won his second Asian Tour title at the Yeangder Heritage in Chinese Taipei in April after waiting for more than 11 years. He also played in The Open two weeks ago and missed the cut by a single shot.
“My wife has been very cooperative, she told me to come and play this week even though we will be expecting our first child next week. My phone will be on standby just in case I have to go back and enjoy the birth of our first child. My wife is in emergency dial and in case I have to go back, I’ll go back to the baby” said, Kapur.
Panuphol Pittayarat hopes to ride on the good memories of finishing third at the Karnataka Golf Association Golf Course in 2012. The bubbly Thai missed out on a play-off by a single shot but said that the result has helped him improve in his career.
At the age of 24, Panuphol is determined to win his first Asian Tour title this week after playing on the Asian Tour for eight seasons.
Globe trotter Liu Yan Wei of China hopes the experience of playing in France, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and Germany in the last few weeks will help him in his quest to lift a first Asian Tour victory this week.
Did you know?
- Shiv Kapur’s second Asian Tour win came 11 years and four months after his first win in 2005. In that same year, he was also named Rookie of the Year on the Asian Tour.
- Kapur went through a liver surgery in October last year and returned in December, a decision which he regrets as he wasn’t fully recovered. In 2016, he also lost his card on the European Tour.
- Four weeks after winning in Chinese Taipei, Kapur capped a second place finish at the Thailand Open, an important result for the Indian, who proved that his win wasn’t a flash in the pan.
- Kapur enjoyed a stellar amateur career where the main highlight was winning the 2002 Asian Games individual gold medal in Korea.
- Panuphol played in the 2012 Hero Indian Open as a 19-year-old where he finished in third place. This will be his eighth season on the Asian Tour.
- The Thai is currently ranked 11th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit thanks to two fourth place results and one top-10 finish.
- Panuphol had to rush for his pro-am after receiving a phone call 10 minutes before his tee off. He arrived from Bangkok at 2am Monday morning and had only three hours of sleep before playing today.
- In the last few weeks, Liu Yan Wei has travelled to France, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and Germany before arriving in India this week.
- Liu was in contention on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) in Malaysia last month before finishing in fourth place.
- The TAKE Solutions Masters was previously held on the ADT in 2014 and 2015. It is the second tournament to be upgraded to the Asian Tour.
Asian Tour Release
