Shiv Kapur finishes T52 in China

Report by Anand Datla

April 19, 2015: Shiv Kapur was looking to make a strong statement at the Shenzhen International, but a memorable finish eluded the Indian yet again. Starting the day at 3-under, Kapur struggled to discover the form of the previous round and settled for a 76 that dropped him outside the top 50 at the European Tour event. Overnight leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat rallied late on to force a play-off with and then beat Chinese teenage sensation Li Hao-Tong at the inaugural Shenzhen International.

Kapur made four straight pars to start his final round, only to surrender two shots at the fifth hole. The Indian made a six on the par-4 to drop to one under. However, he settled down immediately to make par at the rest of the four holes before making the turn in 38 shots.

The second bogey of the day came at the eleventh hole. He made five at the par-4 eleventh to slip back to even terms with the course. Kapur added another bogey at the penultimate hole to go over par before he got to the final tee.

The 272nd ranked Indian earned € 9,268 for his work this week, after finishing the event at 1-over 289. After making a good start to the season with a T11 finish at the Thailand Classic, Kapur has been searching for more success.

Li, having completed his round, was watching on TV to see if he would become the first Chinese player to win a European Tour event on home soil when Aphibarnrat sensationally eagled the 17th with a putt of 18 feet to emerge from a congested leaderboard and draw level on 12 under par.

An excellent approach from a fairway bunker gave the Thai a putt to win the tournament but his effort slipped to the right of the hole, meaning he and Li would play the 18th again.

Aphibarnrat, whose only other European Tour victory had come at the 2013 Maybank Malaysian Open, repeated his approach to find the middle of the green while Li left himself a much longer putt. And after the 19 year old made a four for par, Aphibarnrat sunk a beauty for birdie and celebrated loudly in contrast to the stunned crowd.

“Special thanks to my caddie, he was always pushing me. When we were two behind on the last two holes he said you have not lost, we have not signed the scorecard yet and he was completely right and I just got the job done,” said Aphibarnrat. “I had a chance to win in 72 holes but the putt in the play-off is the best putt I have ever made in my life.”

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