My Winning Reflection
Shiv Kapur shares his thoughts on winning his long awaited 2nd Asian Tour title
• My Winning Reflection
Shiv Kapur’s second Asian Tour title was a lengthy wait but it came in sensational style at the inaugural Yeangder Heritage in Chinese Taipei. The Indian fired a sensational final round eight-under-par 64 highlighted by eight birdies – five of which came in his closing seven holes! With his winning total of 16-under-par 272, Kapur was delighted to end his title drought on the Asian Tour.
“The win means so much to me. It has been a frustrating last couple of years so it is nice to be back where I belong. There are so many good
talents on the Asian Tour and it is getting harder and harder to win each year, so to win the way I did is just very satisfying.
There is a certain calmness on the golf course (National Golf Country Club). I think that helped me. It also helped that I was not playing in the last group because that gave me an opportunity to go and make birdies.
It has been a long time since I won on the Asian Tour. I won on the Challenge Tour in 2013 and some on the local circuit. My first win came in 2005 in my rookie season. It has been such a long wait but you tend to appreciate it more. You will have questions and doubts from yourself and other people but I answered those questions more to myself than anybody else with this win.
After you haven’t won for so long, you might think that the best is behind you. When I first won I was in my early 20s and the older guys were chasing me down. Now I’m the old guy! I played with Gavin Green in the third round and I can’t talk enough about what a great player he is. In the final round I played with two young Thai players so there are a lot of talents on the Asian Tour.
It is becoming harder and harder to win. The young kids come into tournaments to win. They come through the Asian Development Tour (ADT) system and that’s such a great platform for them to learn how to win. When they come out on the Asian Tour, it is not a big surprise to them anymore.
I really struggled last year. I came back from a liver surgery in September and was lying on a hospital bed. It was frustrating because I couldn’t play. Now I’ve come back after six months and to win the way I did is satisfying. When you are away from the game, it gives you doubts about yourself especially when things are not going your way. This win came at the right time.”