Golfer Kapur eyes comeback at Perth International

Perth, Feb 26: Indian golfer Shiv Kapur readied to mount a comeback after struggling to a one-over-par 73 in the second round of the Perth International here on Friday.

After starting the day tied second, Kapur cut a frustrated figure in his front-nine where he was staring at an outward 40 at the turn. He started well with a birdie on the second hole but dropped five shots starting from the sixth to the ninth with three bogeys and one double-bogey.

"It was not great. I started off pretty steady and gave myself a lot of chances. But I let it slip towards the end of the front nine, which is quite disappointing. I hit two bad shots, made a double and two bogeys in a hurry," Kapur said at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

The Indian managed to regain his composure and got back into the game with three birdies in his inward-nine to end the day tied eighth, six shots behind leaders Peter Uihlein and Brett Rumford.

"When I made the turn, I said, you still can fight back. I felt I was playing good and I knew I could bounce back. It's nice to fight back and have a little bit of a better taste in my mouth and not a bitter one as I was walking off the ninth green," said the Indian.

Although Kapur was feeling the effects of a shoulder injury, he was quick to rule that out for his erratic form.

"No, it's not the shoulder. That would be making an excuse. My shoulder was a lot worse yesterday, but much better today. I just had a couple of bad swings and I got a little impatient on the eighth and ninth holes. There's obviously two rounds still to go, so a good round tomorrow could put me back in it," said Kapur.

Kapur, along with compatriots Himmat Rai, Chiragh Kumar and Gaganjeet Bhullar, will progress into weekend rounds.

The Perth International is the only golf tournament in Australia to be tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and European Tour. It is title-sponsored by ISPS Handa.