Dhruv wrote:Hmm if you did go back and look at Daniel Chopra's interview a few months back he said
puneets: what is your take on the Indian golf scene in general, the players, the courses etc ?
Daniel Chopra: India is finally starting to get some good quality golf courses with proper understanding of agronomy ... and as for the players, the talent pool has shrunk since our generation of Jeev, Arjun, Arjun, Jyoti…..But there is a guy called Shiv Kapur that you all should look out for - he is now playing on the Asian Tour.
It's nice to see my question up there...given that I have zero knowledge about golf
Bhushan, you have ignored the fact that Shiv will also play some of the jointly sanctioned tournaments.......
This is what I had written:
Getting into the top 100 will require Shiv to earn some good amount of points from the EPGA-Asian Tours co-sanctioned events in 2006.
My mistake. Somehow I missed that part.
Anyway, my thinking is that, although the opportunities will be limited, but he'll get enough of them to crack top 100. Obviously, as you mentioned, it is much more difficult in Asian tour compare to regular PGA or EPGA tour. But if delivers in right tournaments, you never know.
I agree with Ajay that if Shiv can do well in the EPGA-Asian Tour co-sanctioned events in 2006 then he will get into the top 100. I was expressing my frustration that Asian Tour and Nationwide Tour give so few points to the golfers. The Nationwide Tour is just a notch below the EPGA in quality of the golfers yet the points awarded by it is low in my opinion.
Another problem that occurs is that golfers graduating from Nationwide Tour or Asian Tour to the PGA Tour have a tough time moving from the top 100 to the top 40 because their "low" points from the previous year holds them down. Zach Johnson, Mark Hensby, Ted Purdy, etc have complained about it in the past.
Shiv will be ranked in the 50-60 range IF he wins the Sony Open in January. (wishful thinking)
Another good performance by Shiv at the combined Asian Tour-Japan PGA Tour event in Japan. He finished 7th in his first start in Japan, and make it one more top ten finish. Thanks Sridhar for the information about Shiv's performance today.
The next stop for Shiv will be at Sony Open in Hawaii to play with the big boys on the PGA Tour. I think doing well in Japan this week will give him the confidence to spring some surprises on the unsuspecting PGA Tour golfers. Shiv played college golf in USA and he should be familiar with the way the golf courses are laid out in USA.
Good luck in Hawaii.
Addendum:
The JPGA website shows that Shiv Kapur finished tied for 13th place. His four day scores were 72, 65, 71 and 75.
I won't keep my expectation too high for Sony Open. This will be his first tournament at this level. Making a cut and playing all four days itself will be good enough. (Shiv missed the cut in his first EPGA event)
BSharma wrote:Hey, no more jokes about me being old . Puneet started it and now Kumar has gotten into the act. For the last time, I am 50+ years "YOUNG".
I never used any names, ..all I said was that there are lots of old people around
Isn't it funny that the only 50+ "young" person in the forum has reacted to the statement "...there are lots of old people around".
Am I baiting other 50+ people to show their hands?
Puneet and Kumar,
I am just kidding about "old" and "young". When you get old you do not have to look in the mirror to see how old you are; you just feel it when you get up in the morning or your children tell you.
The latest world ranking shows Shiv moving to #187 from #200. His ranking may drop as he takes a four week break before playing at Sony Open (PGA Tour). He has some points that will decrease by a factor of 0.25 in 2 and 3 weeks from now.
Shiv will have to finish in the top 25 at Sony Open to earn world ranking points. This is another odd system in world golf ranking where only the top 15% or so golfers at a tournament get ranking points and the rest go home without points but the tournament is counted as part of the divisor to calculate the avaerage point.
Thanks Bhushan for one more required dose on ranking system ... So if Shiv planning to gain ranking points from tough Sony Open then he needs to finish in top 25 ... But as Ajay pointed out rightly, it will be good if he manages to making cut and get chance of playing for all 4 days ... Then that would be great experiance for Shiv and then if he achieves more that would be 'Sone Pe Suhaga' ...
BSharma wrote:The latest world ranking shows Shiv moving to #187 from #200. His ranking may drop as he takes a four week break before playing at Sony Open (PGA Tour).
are you sure he wont be playing in any tournament before the Sony open in hawaii????
The Japan PGA is on hold for the winter, and the Asian Tour has qualifying tournaments and Royal Trophy coming up. Then there is a break for Christmas/New Year. Shiv's points will fall off but so will those of other golfers. It is possible that he may rise or fall in ranking after this 4 week break.
We should not be concerned about week to week ranking of Shiv, but look at his progress on a quarterly or semi-annual basis. Unlike pro-tennis, golf rankings have worth only if you are ranked in the top 40 or 50.
My mistake. Somehow I missed that part. 
