Shiv Kapur diary: The Modified Scoring format is now growing on me!

Friday was the third round of this week’s $750,000 Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge, co-sanctioned by both the Asian Tour and the Ladies European Tour (LET). Today, I shot five points for a 54-hole total of 16 points to lie in tied 56th place.

I am not where I want to be on the leaderboard but with one more round to go, I will be firing at a lot of pins on Saturday and I will hopefully make a lot of birdies and finish on a high.

The tournament format of Modified Stableford is actually growing on me as the week progresses.

It really rewards aggressive golf, which for whatever reason, has not always been in me this week, apart from the three birdies on my first nine (after starting on hole 10) and two more on my home nine. My only disappointments today were the bogeys on holes 12 and 1 with minus 1 point on the card for each of these, plus an ugly minus 3 pointer on hole 2, my 11th, for a double bogey or worse.

The round three leader on 42 points is American Sihwan Kim, currently ranked the Asian Tour’s number one player, who got on the birdie bullet train once again today at Siam Country Club’s Waterside Course by shooting a 61.

Overnight leader Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen (LET), her compatriot Natipong Srithong (Asian Tour) and Maja Stark (LET) from Sweden, are second with 34 points, while Budsabakorn Sukapan (LET) from Thailand is in fifth with 33.

After just turning 40, it is always nice to look back at golfers and tournaments and where they came from. I remember when I won the Challenge Tour Grand Final at Al Badia Golf Club, Dubai in 2013, Sihwan Kim came tied 29th in the tournament and gained his full DP World Tour playing privileges by finishing 9th in the season-long Challenge Tour Rankings and I moved up from 16th to third with the win.

Happy memories for us all.

Meghan MacLaren of England, a friend of Dubai, made her move in round three with five birdies, no bogeys or worse and 10 points, to stand tied 20th on 25 points.

If anyone is interested in watching us on Dubai Sports Channel, the broadcast starting time for the final round is 10 am UAE on Saturday.

Just a reminder of the Modified Scoring format:

Albatross - 8 points

Eagle - 5 points

Birdie - 2 points

Par - Zero

Bogey - Minus 1 point,

Double Bogey or Worse - Minus 3 points.

- Shiv Kapur is a 40-year-old professional who plays on the Asian Tour and is a multiple winner. A Dubai Golden Visa awardee, he lives in Dubai with his family.