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Kapur and Mardan battle for Open berth

India's rising star Shiv Kapur is hoping inspiration drawn from English cricket captain Andrew Flintoff will lead him to a maiden major appearance at The Open Championship in July.

The 24-year-old Kapur is amongst 34 players entered for the two-day International Final Qualifying – Asia starting on Thursday at Sentosa Golf Club's award-winning Serapong course.

Three tickets are available to the year's third major at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in England from July 20-23.

Other hopefuls at Sentosa include local hero Mardan Mamat, who made history last month by becoming the first Singaporean to win a European Tour event, current Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit leader Andrew Buckle of Australia, Malaysia's Danny Chia, Thailand's Chapchai Nirat, India's Jeev Milkha Singh and Aussie duo Scott Barr and Terry Pilkadaris.

All eyes will be on Kapur who burst onto the scene with a spectacular rookie season on the Asian Tour last year. He won his maiden title at the season-ending Volvo Masters of Asia in Bangkok last December and has earned the admiration from the likes of Fred Couples and Robert Allenby.

Kapur's confidence is soaring high that he is optimistic of a major debut. He has also found added spark from his meeting with Flintoff, who is with the visiting English cricket team taking on India. "I picked on Andrew's brains on how he approached the big occasions and I like his style as he takes the challenges head-on. Andrew has a lot of self confidence and self belief.

"He's an all-rounder, he never shies away from a challenge or adversity and he likes responsibility. I want to be a leader as well, which is Andrew's attitude. It was great having the opportunity to spend time with him," said Kapur.

The Indian, who like Flintoff is managed by UK-based International Sports Management (ISM), will have further opportunities to tap on the English captain's vast experience as they will play a round of golf at Wentworth Club in June after being "auctioned off" in a charity drive in New Delhi.

But it is Royal Liverpool which Kapur has as his choice of destination. "My game is now more ready for a major, and certainly ready to try and qualify for one," said Kapur. "I've had a good season in 2005, played with some of the best players in the world and I'm playing well at this point and feeling confident with my game.

"My coach Kel Lwellyn was in Delhi last week and we worked on my game. It's a matter of stringing two good rounds at Sentosa. One of my goals is to play in a major this year and this is the first chance that I'll have. I hope to succeed," said Kapur.

Home hero Mardan is hoping to ride on his rich vein of form as he bids for a third Open appearance after playing at Royal Troon in 1997 and St Andrews last season. Last month, the 37-year-old became the first Singaporean to win a European Tour-sanctioned title with a commanding start-to-finish success at the OSIM Singapore Masters.

While victory was sweet, the local hero conceded it caused some distractions. "I had so many press interviews that I lost count," said Mardan. "It broke my routine, and I couldn't practice the way I normally would. I enjoyed winning and the attention that came but I needed to get back quickly into my regular routine."

Mardan added the magnificent Serapong course is a wonderful test but would not be as severe as it was during last year's Singapore Open, which is Asia's richest national Championship. "The main difference is the rough is now more gentle and forgiving," said Mardan.

"I hope to qualify for The Open again as it's a great experience being at a major. The buzz you get being there and the spectators and competition are great. You have to put up two good numbers this week. The qualifier is more like a 100-meter sprint, not like a 400-meter run."

Australian Adam Fraser, New Zealander Eddie Lee and Thailand's Prom Meesawat withdrew from the IFQ, which meant that the original four spots available at Sentosa for the Open were reduced to three.

International Final Qualifying – Asia Entries

Shiv Kapur (India), Andrew Buckle (Australia), Jarrod Lyle (Australia), Terry Pilkadaris (Australia), Marcus Both (Australia), Scott Strange (Australia), Jeev Milkha Singh (India), Yeh Wei-tze (Chinese Taipei), Chapchai Nirat (Thailand), Amandeep Johl (India), Yoshinobu Tsukada (Japan), Scott Barr (Australia), Mahal Pearce (New Zealand), Soushi Tajima (Japan), Mardan Mamat (Singapore), Gavin Flint (Australia), Adam Groom (Australia), Angelo Que (Philippines), Akinori Tani (Japan), Adam Le Vesconte (Australia), Jason Dawes (Australia), Unho Park (Australia), Danny Chia (Malaysia), Lee Sung (Korea), Richard Moir (Australia), Rahil Gangjee (India), Bryan Saltus (USA), Sushi Ishigaki (Japan), Jochen Lupprian (Germany), Corey Harris (USA), James Stewart (Hong Kong), Chang Tse-peng, (Chinese Taipei), Kyi Hla Han (Myanmar),
David Gleeson (Australia)

About Sentosa Golf Club

The Open Championship International Final Qualifying – Asia will take place on Sentosa’s par-71 Serapong championship course, the permanent home of The Singapore Open. Designed by leading course designer Ronald Fream, the course at Sentosa Golf Club has been regularly voted among Asia’s top golf courses. In March 2006, Serapong picked up its latest award from the Asian Golf Monthly magazine which named it ‘Best Course in Singapore’.

April 5, 2006