Indian golfer Shiv Kapur came within a shot of getting into a play-off but then had to settle for a share of the second place in the Foshan Open on the European Challenge Tour here today.
Kapur, fighting to get his card for the 2014 European Tour picked up Euro 20,617, which brought him from 36th to 19th place, but he still needs to do some work to get into the top-15 to earn the card.
Kapur, who won the season's first Challenge Tour event in India, bookended his round with bogeys on the first and 18th but had five other birdies in between in his round of three-under 69.
A nerveless par putt from 12 feet earned Nacho Elvira his first professional title at the Foshan Open and moved him within sight of a place on The European Tour.
Kapur, who was lying fourth at the end of the third round moved from 10-under to 14-under when he came to the 18th tee. He was playing with Tyrell Hatton, who was at 13-under. But in the group pairing behind them -- both Elvira and Sam Walker were at 14-under.
The par-5 18th had yielded a few birdies and Kapur went for a birdie for that would take him to 15-under and set the bar for Elvira and Walker.
Instead the Indian dropped a shot and Elvira parred, while Walker too bogeyed to fall to second.
A closing round of 72 for an aggregate total of 14 under par was enough for Elvira to see off a whole host of challengers, but the bare numbers do not do justice to the drama that unfolded at Foshan Golf Club.
Having come into the inaugural USD 350,000 event in 50th place in the Challenge Tour Rankings, Elvira's chief aim was simply to secure his berth in the 45-man Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final in a fortnight's time; but a radical revision will be needed after the winner's cheque for Euro 41,234 moved the Spaniard into the all-important top 15.
