Shiv Kapur starts 'Down Under' to move up

Indian golfer Shiv Kapur, who had to wait till virtually the last full-field event on the European Tour to confirm his card for 2009 season, has decided to go Down Under to get off to a good start this time around.

Kapur, who finished 116th on the European Tour Merit list and was one of the last players to keep the card, will play three weeks in a row in Australia, and that starts with the Australian Masters Thursday.

The event is co-sanctioned with the European Tour and after the HSBC Champions and Hong Kong Open forms part of the 2009 season.

"I have always wanted to give it a shot in Australia and hence the decision to play the three events. Also the fact that Australian Masters forms part of the European Tour helps," said Kapur, who will also play the Australia PGA and the Australian Open in the forthcoming weeks.

The 30th edition of the Australian Masters will be held at the Huntingdale Golf Club at Oakleigh South in Victoria.

"The fields in Australia are world class and it should be a good swing for me," added Kapur, who will then come to Bangkok for the 2008 season-ending Volvo Masters of Asia.

Swede Daniel Chopra, winner of two events on the US PGA Tour including the Mercedes Benz Championship earlier this year, is back 'Down Under' looking to go one better than last year when he was denied victory by Aaron Baddeley after a marathon play-off. The pair had finished tied on 13 under par 275 before finally being separated at the fourth extra hole.

Robert Allenby and Stuart Appleby, as the two highest ranked players in the field, lead the way in the event co-sanctioned by The European Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia, along with Nick O'Hern, Peter Lonard, Rod Pampling, Craig Parry, and John Senden and Scott Strange, winner of Tthe Celtic Manor Wales Open in June.

In addition, Jarrod Lyle, Greg Chalmers, Aron Price and Marc Leishman, all winners on the US Nationwide Tour en route to progressing to the 2009 US PGA Tour, will play in the Australian Masters, the third event counting towards on The Race to Dubai.

John Daly, the double Major Champion, is looking to build on his performance in last week's UBS Hong Kong Open, where he closed with a spectacular eight under par 62 to finish in the top 20 in his first tournament after a month off.