Defending champion Shiv Kapur will spearhead a strong Indian challenge at the USD 400,000 Panasonic Open India as the home golfers look to continue their domination at the 8th edition of the prestigious tournament starting here on Thursday.
The highly-rated event held at the Delhi Golf Club since its inception has been won by six Indians in last seven editions. So the Indians, 69 in the 126-man field, will fancy their chances once again.
No player has won the Panasonic Open India more than once since it was first held in 2011 and Kapur will hope to change that statistic when he leads an elite Indian field which includes three other past champions -- Digvijay Singh (2012), Chiragh Kumar (2015) and Mukesh Kumar (2016).
"It was one of the best moments of my career," says Kapur, who keeps replaying in his mind the images of him holding the Trophy at his home club and his then two-month old daughter sitting on it.
"This is where I have played most of my golf. Winning here was a dream come true and winning a second time and becoming the first player to become a repeat winner in Panasonic Open India would indeed be an icing on the cake."
"The key to play well here is always to hit it good off the tee. If you can do that, you get the opportunities to go for the pins. You need to be very patient as well. It's always important to stay patient on this course."
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