Scottish Open: Shiv Kapur shoots 68

Edited by Anand Datla

July 10, 2015: Shiv Kapur rode a 32 shot run on the front nine to post 68 in the first round of the Scottish Open in Gullane. The other two Indians though fell over par – Anirban Lahiri gave one away in his 71 and Jeev Milkha Singh signed on a generous 74. With nearly half the field breaking par at the Gullane Golf Club, both me are facing the prospect of an early exit, unless they turn matters around on Friday. Thorbjørn Olesen put his injury problems behind him to claim the lead after the first round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. Two-time European Tour winner Olesen shot a flawless seven under par 63 at Gullane.

Kapur made three birdies on his outward nine – two of them coming in succession at the eighth and ninth holes. His lone bogey on the day came at the par-4 15th hole. Lahiri was three under through the first five holes, but bogeys at 7 and 9 started to turn the tide against the 28 year old’s steep progress. His card was stained badly when he made a double bogey at the 13th before adding another bogey at the 15th.

The 2012 Scottish Open champion, Jeev got off to a difficult start. Bogeys at 6 & 7 hurt the veteran Indian and two more that came at the eleventh and fourteenth holes dented him further back.

Meanwhile, Olesen, who finished sixth on his Masters Tournament debut in 2013, discovered a tendon problem in his left hand over the winter but battled on for four events – missing the cut in the last three – before undergoing surgery at the start of February.

“It’s been a tough time but I keep working on the right things and hopefully it will come,” said the 25 year old, who lost a play-off for the Mauritius Open in May in his first event back after three months on the sidelines. “I showed today I can still shoot low rounds. I hit almost every green – only missing the 18th – and hit a lot of fairways, which was the key.”

At seven under par Olesen led by two shots from American Ryder Cup player Jimmy Walker, Swede Johan Carlsson, Spaniards Alejandro Cañizares and Adrian Otaegui, and English trio Seve Benson, Matthew Nixon and Richard Finch, with defending champion Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar all four under.

Even three-putt bogeys on the last two holes could not dampen McDowell’s enthusiasm for a welcome return to form in the week he slipped out of the Official World Golf Ranking’s top 50 for the first time in five years.

McDowell’s sole top-ten finish on The European Tour this season came in February and he missed the cut when bidding for a third successive Alstom Open de France title last week, a second round of 78 being his worst score in 32 rounds at Le Golf National.

The 35 year old revealed he and coach Pete Cowen had been examining videos of his swing from 2010, the year he won the US Open at Pebble Beach and holed the winning putt in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor.

“I’m trying to get back to basics and we have narrowed my stance and used my body to swing the club how I used to,” McDowell added. “I feel as if in an attempt to improve some things in my technique, I’ve actually got worse.”

“It was also nice to get back on a course that gives you a few opportunities in benign conditions. I just need a few low numbers to get my belief and confidence back and today will go a long way towards that.”

Rose admitted he was beginning to lose his patience after letting a number of opportunities slip, but birdied the 16th and responded to a bogey on the 17th with another birdie from 20 feet on the last.

And the resulting 66 certainly justified his decision to practice at St Andrews on Monday and Tuesday this week and rely on caddie Mark Fulcher to plot a route around Gullane.

“He’s doing the hard work and making my schedule a lot easier,” Rose said. “It was a pretty stress-free round and I did not burn up too much energy out there.”

Follow Us: Twitter.com/GolfingIndian

Join Us: Facebook.com/GolfingIndian

Download Our APP Here

Source: European Tour