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Surrey, England, May 27, 2014: India’s Shiv Kapur qualified for his third Major appearance after he earned a spot for the 2014 US Open at the 36-hole International Sectional Qualifier event played at the Old and New courses at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England.
The 32-year-old Kapur, currently the second-highest ranked Indian in the world at 171, shot scores of 68 and 71 to end up in tied fifth with a total of five-under-139. He finished three shots behind the winner Shane Lowry of Ireland.
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The European Tour regular thus made the cut for his first ever US Open. The top 14 players from the International Sectional Qualifier at Walton Heath made it to the US Open.
Shiv’s two previous Major appearances came at the British Open in 2006 and 2013. He missed the halfway cut by one shot in 2006 and finished tied 73rd in 2013.
Kapur has now become the third Indian to qualify for the US Open. Jeev Milkha Singh with four appearances and Arjun Atwal with one appearance are the other two Indians to have played at the US Open in the past.
Jeev made the cut on three out of four occasions and recorded his best finish of tied 36th at the 2007 edition. Arjun Atwal missed the cut at his only appearance in 2010.
Shiv is now one of only four Indians to have qualified for two or more Majors out of four, the others being Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa. Jeev Milkha Singh, the only other Indian in the fray, missed out on qualifying for his fifth US Open.
He shot a 75 in round one and withdrew in the second round. Jeev had missed the cut in his last outing at the US Open in 2009.
Professional Golf Tour Of India (PGTI) member Mohammed Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh also missed out on a US Open ticket after finishing tied 68th at six-over-150. He came up with scores of 74 and 76.
The US Open, the second Major of the year, will be played at the Pinehurst No. 2 course in Pinehurst, North Carolina from June 12 to 15, 2014.
Jeev Milkha Singh has made 13 Major appearances so far, the most by an Indian. Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa with five Major appearances each are second on this list. Shiv Kapur, all set to take his third shot at a Major, is the only other Indian with two or more outings at a Major.
Anirban Lahiri, the highest-ranked Indian in the world at 72, can join Kapur as the second Indian at this year’s US Open if he makes it into the top-60 of the world by June 9.
