GULLANE, Scotland — The British Open leaderboard features a string of major champions entwined with winners on the European and PGA Tours.
And right among them is a name that many probably won't recognize: Shiv Kapur.
"It's a funny name in the middle of all those sort of proven major winners and stuff," the 210th-ranked Kapur said.
Playing in the fourth-to-last group, the unheralded Indian shot a 3-under 68 on Thursday to finish two strokes behind first-round leader Zach Johnson. Yet after a stellar front nine at Muirfield, it could have been a whole lot better.
Kapur amazed himself by birdieing six of the first seven holes on greens some players said were so fast that they were unplayable.
His solution to stopping the ball? Knock it in the hole.
"Probably the fastest greens I've ever played in my life," Kapur said. "They weren't green, they were white out there. And (I) couldn't get the ball to stop.
"So I knew it's tough to hole putts out there, but you've just got to keep giving yourself chances. And putts fell for me on the front nine."