Indian golfer Shiv Kapur overcame a shoulder trouble to return with a bogey-free six-under 66 to lie tied second after the opening day of the AUD 1.75 million ISPS Handa Perth International. (Read More in Golf)Â
“I have a strain in my supraspinatus, which in layman’s terms, is the muscle that connects the neck to the shoulder,” said Kapur.
“It actually happened just lifting my golf bag off the carousel a couple of weeks ago.”
Of the other Indians, SSP Chawrasia and Chiragh Kumar, both former runner-ups at Hero Indian Open, were tied 33rd at one-under 71 each.
After teeing off from tenth, Chawrasia seemed to be going great guns at four-under through 13 holes, before stumbling to a bogey and a double bogey on his 14th and 15th, which were the fifth and sixth of the Lake Karrinyup Country Club. He ended with a one-under 71.
Starting on tenth, Chiragh was two-under through 12 and then bogeyed his 13th, the fourth hole of the course. He parred the rest for a 71.
The rest of the Indians struggled, as Arjun Atwal (73) was Tied-67th, Himmat Rai (74) was Tied-92nd, Jeev Milkha Singh and Gaganjeet Bhullar both 77 were further down at 137th.
Kapur, who is also looking to challenge for his National Open, the Hero Indian Open next month, said, “It’s funny how you go in the gym and you play golf and you do all these things and you don’t get injured, and the littlest thing happened when you travel. We obviously load our golf bags up with a lot of stuff.”
Despite working with the physio and chiropractor, Kapur was affected at the top of his swing, but that did not hamper his scoring. “It got better as I warmed up, but the first few shots that I hit, I couldn’t really hold the club at the top of my backswing. It seemed to get better.”
