European Tour card in pocket, Shiv Kapur hopes for a Shanghai blast

Shanghai, Nov 8 (UNI) His Putting woes notwithstanding, Shiv Kapur would tee off in the HSBC Champions here tomorrow with renewed confidence after pocketing his card on the European Tour for the 2007 season.

''It's nice that I have my card in Europe for the new season.

It's good to start off the new year with a tournament like this one as if you play well it takes the pressure off for the rest of the year. So I'm just trying to go out and have a good week here so that I can enjoy the rest of the 2007 season,'' Shiv wrote in his diary for the Asian Tour.

''With no halfway cut this week, at least I'll know that I'll be on the European Tour Order of Merit at the end of this week which will be nice. But it's a great opportunity. It's a limited field with a big purse and you just want to have a good week. It's good to be out here with Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk and all the top guys in the world. It's a good chance to compete on our home soil,'' he added.

On his form, Shiv took heart from the fact that he peaks generally late and that should ensure a good beginning to his new season.

''Towards the end of last year, I started to peak and played really well (where he won the Volvo Masters of Asia) and hopefully it'll start coming together again. That's what I'm telling myself.

There are some big events to look forward to. There's this week and then I'm at the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan, Australian Masters, New Zealand Open and then take a week off before the Volvo Masters of Asia at the end of the year. This is a good time for me to peak,'' he explained.

Admitting his short game was not upto his expectations, he said, ''I'm striking the ball great but I've been struggling with my putting. I've hit the ball fantastic, from the Indian Open but I'm not putting well. I like the greens here, they're good fast greens which I enjoy putting on. If I can get the putter on, that would be great.

''At the start of the season, the putter was kind of holding me back and then in the middle of the season, I was putting great in Europe. It just kinds of fluctuate, you can't get all parts of your game working together. Sometimes I'll be hitting it all over the pace and my putter saves me and then when I try to find my swing, the putter goes cold on me. I'll be hoping that everything comes together here,'' he added.

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