By V. Krishnaswamy, IANS
Sentosa (Singapore) : Shiv Kapur braved the tough conditions and shot the day’s best two-under 69 on a day when there were just half a dozen sub-par scores at the $4 million Barclay’s Singapore Open here Saturday.
The reward for Kapur was an upward move into the top-10 at tied seventh with one more round to go in Asia’s richest National Open at the Sentosa Golf Club.
Kapur was the only player to shoot in the 60s, and apart from his 69, only five others shot 70. Kapur had been 26th when the second round was completed Friday.
Argentine Angel Cabrera, the reigning US Open champion, kept his feet firmly on the pedal and added one-under 70 for a total of nine-under 204 and was a clear leader by four shots over the little-known American-Korean Jin Park (72), who was at five-under 208.
“Yes, I’m feeling comfortable. I’ve got a four-shot lead, so that’s a bit of a cushion,” said Cabrera, who admitted it was tough with the wind picking up and the greens getting hard.
Lee Westwood (71) with a triple bogey and eagle in last three holes was third at four-under, while Fijian Vijay Singh (70) and Adam Scott (73) were tied fourth.
Anthony Kang (72) was sole sixth at two-under 211. Japan’s Tetsuji Hiratsuka (73), South African Keith Horne (74) and Australian Gavin Flint (74) joined Kaupur in seventh place at one-under 212. Only 10 players who are in red numbers are under-par for three rounds.
American Phil Mickelson (73) got his father-in-law, Gary McBride, to do the caddying, after his regular bagman Jim Mackay was hit by stomach cramps on the sixth hole. Mickelson was tied 11th while Korean K.J. Choi (75) was tied 17th at two-over.
In conditions worthy of a world-class golf tournament, the Serapong Golf course demanded high quality play, great patience and a cool head in rather warm but windy conditions where the temperature went past 35 degrees Celsius.
Summing up the course conditions, Kapur said: “It was tough out there. It was very windy and the grains were obviously a bit crusty. They had also shoved a lot of the pins back and tucked them in corner. It was certainly the toughest day of three and then take away preferred lies and you would have an occasional bad lie. So, it was playing at least a shot or a shot and a half harder.”
Kapur apart, from an Indian point of view Gurbaaz Mann (73) ground out a great round in the hard conditions. He moved from overnight 54th to tied 37th at six-over for the tournament.
Ahead of him at five-over for three rounds was S.S.P. Chowrasia, who struggled to a six-over 77 and was tied 30th.
“Everything was a little off today. Driving, hitting and putting. But still it was very tough out there. I know I just have to go and get a decent round tommorrow,” said Chowrasia.
Gaurav Ghei (75) stayed where he was — 43rd at seven-over 220 and Arjun Singh (77) was tied 57th at 10-over.
Earlier in the morning, when the second round resumed, the cut came at five-over and six of the 11 Indians who started failed to make the cut. Gaganjeet Bhullar (73-77, eight-over), Rahil Gangjee (75-76, nine-over), Digvijay Singh (76-76), 10-over), Amandeep Johl (77-79, 14-over) and Harmeet Kahlon (79-81, 18-over) missed the cut, while Uttam Singh Mundy withdrew midway through the second round.
Despite finding the going tough, Kapur said: “It (the course) is easier than last year. The greens have become firmer and are tougher, but off the tee it is a lot easier. Last year if you missed the fairway, it pretty much meant hacking. Overall it would be a shot easier than last year.”
When asked about his move into top-10 and further chances, Kapur added: “This is the kind of a course, where like the US Open, even par or slightly better gets a move up. It is tough to go very low and even par is always good. You can’t push on. If you shoot a low number then fine, but you cannot go on a birdie blitz.”
“I am just hoping to play one more solid round. He (Cabrera) is not going to come back, but in golf you never know and can’t count yourself out.”
Westwood had an eventful finish. He was one-under for the round when he came to the 16th tee but then triple bogeyed the par-4 16th. He shrugged it off and quickly parred the 17th before knocking down a stunning eagle on the 18th to recover to par for the day and move to sole third.
Westwood, four-under 209, was just one place off from his overnight second, but five shots behind leader Cabrera.