Kapur aims to end title drought at Indian Open

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Indian golfer Shiv Kapur is determined to end a seven-year title drought at the Hero Indian Open beginning here Thursday.

Kapur is in fine form ahead of the $1.25 million Asian Tour event as he finished fifth in Macau last week and is currently 10th on the Order of Merit.

"As a kid growing up, my dream was always to win my national open. Every golfer wants to win their national open as it is a fifth Major for them," said Kapur, whose sole Asian Tour victory was in 2005 in Thailand.

"I think my consistency is better and I'm getting closer to winning. I'm disappointed I'm not able to win more. That plays on my mind but you realize you have to be patient," added Kapur, who has three top-five finishes on the Asian Tour this season.

However, he will face stern challenges from no more than 40 winners including an in-form Gaganjeet Bhullar, who won his fourth Asian Tour title last week, defending champion David Gleeson of Australia and Peter Hanson of Sweden, ranked 25th in the world.

The event will be played at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course for the first time in its illustrious history and Kapur lauded the decision to move his national open to a new venue.

"I think it is good for the growth of the game. The sport is growing all over India. It is good for the national open to move around. India is a big country and every course has a different challenge," said the 30-year-old.

After securing his best result on the Asian Tour with a runner-up finish last week, Jonathan Moore of the United States, who is the reigning Asian Development Tour Order of Merit winner, is eyeing his first win on the region's established Tour.

"Last week was kind of a special week. I wasn't expecting it. Claire (wife and caddy) and I talked about not thinking about results and the Order of Merit and it was good to get my best result so far," said Moore.

C. Muniyappa enjoyed a dream victory at the 2009 edition and is making a comeback from a back injury which left him out of the game for the whole of the 2011.

It will be an inspiring return for Muniyappa, who lives five minutes from the KGA course where he started his career as a forecaddie and developed his swing by watching club members.