It’s set to be another special week for India’s Vani Kapoor at the Hero Women’s Indian Open with the home star teeing up at her home course DLF Golf & Country Club.
A New Delhi native born and raised just around the corner from the stunning Gurgaon facility, Kapoor is feeling an immense amount of pride heading into her home event as she looks to take advantage of knowing the course as well as anyone in the 120-player field.
“It’s a lot of fun to be home with everyone coming out to support me and the rest of the Indian players,” she said. “There’s quite a lot of players from India here and it’s familiar turf. DLF plays quite difficult but just to know a little bit more about the course is always an advantage.
“I think there is no better feeling than flying the flag for India. To be given a chance to be working hard towards it, to be fulfilling my dreams along with carrying the flag, I feel truly blessed and really grateful.”
Playing in her 11th Hero Women’s Indian Open, Kapoor is one of 32 Indian players teeing up this week in a field which also includes 35 players from the Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI).
The Gary Player designed championship course at DLF Golf & Country is on hosting duties for the sixth edition in a row this week, with home familiarity continuing to make the Hero Indian Women’s Open a standout event for Kapoor on the Ladies European Tour (LET) schedule.
“I really like playing here,” the 29-year-old said. “This is my home course and the conditions are amazing throughout the year. It plays so well and the hospitality is great. I feel a lot of pride being Indian and in someway helping to host this event. Hero does a great job and I definitely feel like it’s one of the best tournaments on the calendar that we have.
“My mum and dad are going to come out. A few brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles. It’s going to be really nice!”
As for Kapoor’s game, the Indian is currently 120th in the Race to Costa del Sol standings and admits she has struggled with consistently this season.
But despite not feeling her best, the home favourite hopes she can be spurred on by the local fans as she returns to India for the 15th staging of the event.
“My game is not where I would want it to be, to be honest, but then again it’s golf,” Kapoor explained, who finished T8 in this event last year and T6 in 2017.
“When you’re not feeling too good you sometimes end up playing one of your best rounds. And sometimes when you’re feeling great you don’t play well! I’ve been feeling great throughout the year and I haven’t had good results. This week I’m not feeling so great so let’s see, hopefully a good result will come.”
Kapoor gets under way at the 2023 Hero Women’s Indian Open at 11:45 on Thursday playing alongside France’s Celine Herbin and South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace.
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