Indian golfers Anirban Lahiri and Shiv Kapur tee off in 146th edition of the British Open today
Indian golfers Anirban Lahiri
Anirban Lahiri and Shiv Kapur, who are good friends, are looking to make an impact when they tee off at The Open today as it will also be only the third time that there will be two Indians at the same edition of The Open championships.
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Both Lahiri and Kapur are also seeing this as a chance to do well and that would push golf into greater focus in India.
The last time two Indians featured in the same Open was in 2012, when Lahiri made his debut and Jeev Milkha Singh also played in the field at Royal Lytham. Eight years before that in 2004 Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal featured at Royal Troon. Randhawa's Tied-27th finish that year remains as the best finish by an Indian at an Open.
Shiv Kapur during a practice round before the 146th Open Championship in Southport on Monday. Pics/Getty Images
Lahiri, who is playing his fifth Open — the most by any Indian — feels he is best prepared for any Open championships. "I was keeping an eye on where my world ranking was and was doing my own research to see how far it has gone down the list. I was quietly confident, so mentally I was prepared to play this week about a month ago. That's why I played in Scotland last week with the intention to play this week," said Lahiri.
Kapur arrived here in Birkdale early and got some invaluable practice. "I've played this golf course in two completely different winds so you need to have two strategies rather than one. You learn how to combat weather when you play on links courses and most of the time the yardage books go out of play. It is a lot of feel, ball flight control and creativity. You need to use a lot of imagination," said Kapur.
"This is my third Open and I'm comparing the course to my previous experience. It is a tough test but very fair at the same time. The trouble confronts you and there aren't many blind shots.
"You got to hit it straight off the tee. There's a lot of premium to hit the fairways and once you do that you get a chance to eliminate mistakes," Kapur added.
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