Jeev ties for 13th place

Jeev Milkha Singh began the 2001 season of the European PGA Tour in solid fashion by finishing tied for the 13th place in the season-opening 500,000 pound Alfred Dunhill Championship, which concluded at the Houghton Golf Club course in Johannesburg on Sunday.

According to information, the 29-year-old pro aggregated 13-under 275 for the 72 holes after shooting a final round of two-under 70. The finish was worth 7,433 pounds which puts him right on track to achieve his first objective -- to make 65,000 pounds from 12 starts to convert his medical exemption into a full exemption.

Jeev, who is sponsored by India.com and Hero Honda Motors, could not compete the entire 2000 season of the European PGA Tour. He was laid off by a wrist injury in March last year which forced him to miss almost seven months of active golf.

The tournament turned out to be a fight between two 20-year-olds, with Australian Adam Scott coming up trumps by making a birdie on the final hole to ward off the challenge of England's Justin Rose. Both shot three-under 69 on the final day, but Scott, who is trained by Tiger Woods' coach Butch Harmon, finished with 21-under aggregate for the winner's cheque of 79,000 pounds.

On the final day, Jeev started with a birdie on the par-4 first hole, and then added two more within four holes with back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth. The birdies dried up thereafter and a bogey on the 15th, the longest par-3 of the course at 225 yards, saw him finish at two-under 70.

"I played solid throughout the round, but the birdies just stopped coming," said Jeev over phone from South Africa after the round. "I am happy with the way I have started the season, but it could have been a lot better. But for those unwanted bogies on the final holes of the second and third round, I could have easily finished in top-five position," added the Indian ace.

"I've led a few tournaments and haven't sealed it, so it was nice to do that this time," said Scott, who was in constant contact by telephone with Harmon this week. "Butch told me before the round not to go out there and try and win the tournament, but just to play a round of golf. That helped me to focus on what I had to do," Scott added.

In a thrilling final day action, first round leader Dean Robertson and six-time major champion Nick Faldo also came into the equation. Faldo, whose age exceeds the combined total of the first and second by three years, also showed his appetite for the fray by shooting four rounds in the sixties to share third place with Robertson on 19 under par. Defending champion Anthony Wall closed with a 67 for 270 and fifth place.

SCORES (after 72 holes): 267 _ Adam Scott (Aus) 67,66,65,69; 268 _ Justin Rose (Eng) 66,67,66,69: 269 _ Nick Faldo (Eng) 68,65,68,68; Dean Robertson (Sco) 62,70,67,70; 270 _ Anthony Wall (Eng) 69,64,70,67; 271 _ Malcolm Mackanzie (Eng) 68,68,67,68; 272 _ Retief Goosen (RSA) 73,68,67,64, Brian Davis (Eng) 69,70,69,64; 273 _ Sven Struver (Ger) 71,70,69,63; 274 _ Michael Kirk (RSA) 68,66,69,71, Greg Owen (Eng) 66,70,69,69, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69,64,70,71; 275 _ Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70,66,69,70, Steve Webster (Eng) 66,70,72,67, Bradley Dredge (Wal) 67,68,68,72