 | « Back to article | Print this article |
British Open: Kapur tumbles down as Westwood takes lead
Indian golfer Shiv Kapur's fortunes continued to take a tumble as he carded a nightmarish 12-over 83 to be placed bottom of the leaderboard after the third and penultimate round of the British Open in Muirfield.
The 31-year-old, who had a dream start with six birdies in seven holes on Thursday, crashed to two triple bogeys and six other bogeys for a three-day total of 15-over 228.
After his first round at 68 and a second round of 77, the third round was most disappointing as he went into the bunker far too many times, suffered a lost ball and endured a bunch of bad lies in the sand pits.
"It is a learning experience for me. I've learnt a lot from the good and the bad. Obviously there's still some work to be done so that I don't make mistakes like these anymore," said the Indian.
On the plan for last day, he said, "I might be a little bit aggressive off the tees because I'm in a nothing-to-lose situation. I guess I need to get to know links golf a little better. Major championships are tough learning curves. That's why they are so tough to win and to play well."
Lee Westwood in firm control of the title
Up ahead on leaderboard, English star and former World No.1, Lee Westwood, marched towards his maiden Major as Britain got ready to celebrate another sporting success this summer, close on the heels of Justin Rose's win at the US Open golf, Andy Murray at Wimbledon and the Ashes cricket series.
The 40-year-old Westwood ended the third day holding a two-shot lead over Tiger Woods and Hunter Mahan of US, who like Westwood, has never won a Major.
Westwood and Woods put on a great show as they the lead changed time and again. Tiger was two ahead after third; and then Westwood three ahead after seven. They were then tied from ninth to 13th and once again the final drama, Westwood forged ahead.
Westwood had three birdies and an eagle against four bogeys, while Woods two birdies against three bogeys. Mahan had five birdies and two bogeys in his 68.
Masters champion Adam Scott (70) moved into sole fourth, while Angel Cabrera (73), Zach Johnson (73), Ryan Moore (72) and Henrik Stenson (74) were tied fifth.
'You will have your good and bad days'
Overnight leader Miguel Angel Jimenez (77) crashed to tied 11th after a testing day. Phil Mickelson (72) was lying tied ninth.
Kapur, who came through a qualifier said, "You will have your good and bad days. You aren't always going to have a great day. Sometimes the bad ones are tough to take. You have to take it on the chin and move ahead."
"I got off to a rough start and got bunkered a lot. The plan was to stay away from as many bunkers as possible but I kept hitting it into bunker after bunker. I wasn't even in the middle of the bunker. I was either on the lip or the back of the bunker.
"I made two triple bogeys on my front nine – had a lost ball on six – and when you are eight over after six holes, you know it is not going to be a good day. You just try and salvage something out of your round. That's the nature of the game," he added.