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THE COMMERCIAL BANK QATAR MASTERS

January 25, 2007

Shiv Kapur

DOHA, QATAR

Q. A bit of a slow start but a strong finish?
SHIV KAPUR: The first part of my round, I was unsettled. Kept making birdies and bogeys and couldn't find any rhythm. I was hitting it average but I was putting it well. I was telling Neeraj (his caddie) in the first part of my round that I was rolling the ball really good. On the 15th I hit my second shot into the water but I made a 40-footer for bogeyL which kind of got my round going.
After that, I hit a lot of shots close and made a few good putts. Anytime I hit my putts well, the game seems easy. Neeraj gave me some good advice yesterday and said to just putt like when I was 10 years old and I said yeah, you're right. He said I was such a good putter when I was a kid. He said I never concentrated on the stroke or line and just stood there and made everything. That seems to have worked.

Q. A carry-on with your form from last week?
SHIV KAPUR: It's different. Last week (in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship), I was hitting the ball great, kept making fairways and greens but didn't convert the putts. But today, I missed a few fairways but managed to get back onto the greens and made those 15-footers, which I wasn't making last week.

Q. What did you learn from last week?
SHIV KAPUR: If you keep putting yourself in that position and if you keep knocking on the door, you'll learn from it. I took the positives out of it and played three solid rounds. I rather put myself in that position and drop out rather than be in the middle of the pack. If I can keep knocking, I'll keep learning from it and hopefully don't fall off on Sunday.

Q. Tell us about your new coach?
SHIV KAPUR: I didn't play well at the Volvo Masters of Asia (last month) where I was defending and after the final round I figured I needed to make some changes to my swing. Normally I'm very reluctant to make changes to my game because I like to go out there and play with what I've got. I saw Peter Murphy in Dallas and he made a few changes to my swing and it seems to be working out. But I've got to keep working at it as I know I haven't quite got into the groove yet. I have to work hard over the next couple of months to get it where I want it to be.

Q. Was it difficult to get over the final round last week?
SHIV KAPUR: I got over it on Monday morning. Usually, I'm pretty hard on myself. I don't let things slip by easily but I took the positives out of there. I was playing well and it was one bad round out of four. I was 12 under par till three rounds and if I can keep playing like that, I'll be fine. I think I'll use it in a positive way and see if I can get back at them this week. Whatever I let go, let's see if I can get better over here.

Q. Is it extra motivation to play well and try to qualify for the Dubai Desert Classic next week?
SHIV KAPUR: I like to be in the field in Dubai. I like to be in the field but I'm not thinking of that. I'll go week by week and round by round. If I play well, that's good. I don't mind taking a week off next week.

Q. Strong field here this week. Do you look into the quality or just concentrate on your own game?
SHIV KAPUR: I think it's nice to have the better players here. I'm treating this as a learning curve. The more good players I can come across, the better it is for me. I played with Paul McGinley and I learnt a lot. Even last week, when I played with Padraig Harrington, I learnt a lot. It's always nice to play well in a strong field and then you can say you've beaten some of those guys. What did you guys talk about? He was asking me about India and he was intrigued to learn about what India is about as I think he's keen to play in the Indian Open. He knows about yoga and the medicinal ways of India. He's just a nice guy.

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