Report by Anand Datla
April 17, 2015: There was early promise for Shiv Kapur at the Genzon Golf Club in China. But his joy evaporated quickly, with Kapur labouring to a 74 in the second round of the Shenzhen International. He is down to one under as a result and is down 22 spots at T29 at the halfway stage of this European Tour event. The lead is with Peter Uihlein, whose 67-68 start put him at 9-under through 36 holes. Thai star Kiradech Aphibarnrat is lying second one shot behind the American.
Gaganjeet Bhullar kissed any hopes of a resurgence good bye when he gave away six shots in four holes, starting at the 12th hole. The Indian started his round on the back nine made two pars to begin his round but a miserable sequence of bogeys – two bogeys and two double bogeys in a row all but burnt his hopes to ashes in quick time.
Kapur had a strange run on the front nine – a birdie at the fourth followed by a bogey at the fifth; then a bogey at the seventh before a birdie to recover the lost shot at the next hole. The sequence of birdie-bogey and bogey-birdie meant that Kapur made the turn in an even 36, remaining just where he had begun the round.
But after making six straight pars to reach the 15th, Kapur surrendered shots at two straight holes to drop to one under with two left to play. A birdie at the 17th, just as he had in the first round gave him some cushion. It was only to be shortlived, as he surrendered another shot at the final hole to reach the weekend at 1-under 143.
After the misery of those four holes starting at the 12th, Bhullar sought to restore balance. He made par-birdie-par before making the turn and added a birdie at the 1st to give himself a sliver of hope. The 464th ranked golfer made a bogey at the 6th to slide further. Even though he finished his second round with a birdie at the ninth hole, it was a case of too little too late.
Over the next two rounds, Kapur will need to rediscover some of the magic he produced on Thursday to try and provide himself a good finish this week.
