Shiv Kapur on edge in Morocco

Report by Anand Datla

March 27, 2015: Shiv Kapur lived through another roller coaster round at the Golf du Palais Royal, before getting through the halfway stage at one over 145. The Indian will have to endure a nervy afternoon as he awaits the field inside the clubhouse, perched precariously on the cut line with nearly half the field yet to complete their rounds. The cut is projected at 2-over just one shot away from Shiv Kapur’s position on the board.

The 260th ranked golfer was even through eight holes, having nullified the bogey he made at the 4th with a birdie at the par-4 sixth hole. But disaster befell the Indian at 409 yard ninth hole. Kapur made an ugly triple bogey at the par-4 hole to make the turn with his spirit battered, at three over through 27 holes.

It took 39 shots for Kapur to traverse the first nine holes of the second round, two worse than his effort on the first day. By the 13th hole, Shiv was deep in distress at four over, having made another bogey at the 12th. That was exactly the same place where he made a double in the first round, the lessons weren’t obviously sinking for the struggling Indian.

With his survival at stake, Kapur produced a stunning sequence from the 13th to rescue himself from the brink of exit. The golfer from Delhi made consecutive birdies at the 14th and 15th before producing a stunning eagle at the par-5 17th to bounce back to even terms with the course.

Unfortunately though, Shiv made five at the 18th hole to finish the day with a 73, slipping out to the wrong side of the score sheet. At the time of publishing this report, the leaderboard wore the look of a crowded street market. There were two dozen golfers within three shots of each other, with David Drysdale in the lead at 7-under through 8 holes.