Jeev moves into the lead

Jeev Milkha Singh, the uncrowned king of Indian golf, is poised to make a giant leap in his career as he shot into the lead after a brilliant four-under 68 on the third day of the 120-million-yen (appx US$-970,000) Tour Championship Iiyama Cup, the showpiece event of the Japanese PGA Tour.

According to information from the Hourai Country Club in Tochigi, Japan, the 29-year-old golfer aggregated 12-under 204 for three rounds and jointly led the stellar field along with local pro Katsumasa Miyamoto.

"Tomorrow is going to be a very big test for me. I am playing well at the moment and my confidence is high. While it is foolish to predict anything in golf, I am going to go all out for a victory,” said Jeev over phone from Japan.

If Jeev manages to win on Sunday, it will earn him a two-year exemption on the Japanese PGA Tour and several fringe benefits in the form of invitations to various tournaments. Also, it will be the first victory for an Indian outside the Asian PGA Tour.

Jeev, who had a bogey-free round, was leading by one stroke before Miyamoto closed his round with a birdie on the par-4 18th to take a share of the lead. The Japanese player had five birdies and one bogey in his round of four-under 68.

The leaders enjoyed a two-stroke advantage over the third placed Kazuhiko Hosokawa, who was at 10-under 206. Hidemichi Tanaka of Japan, who won last week’s Mizuno Open and the current leader in the Order of Merit, zoomed up the leaderboard with a four-under 68 which helped him to nine-under 207. Tanaka was in tied fourth place with the big-hitting Australian, Brendan Jones.

Jeev, who is sponsored by Hero Honda Motors, began the day at joint third place. He played a solid round and concentrated on minimising the mistakes. The strategy reaped rich rewards for the Chandigarh pro. He was one-under in the front nine with a birdie on the par-3 third.

Once his putts started dropping on the back nine, there was no stopping for the Arjuna Award winner. Jeev exploited the two par-5s on the back nine -- the 530-yard 10th and the 550-yard 16th. These sandwiched his birdie on the par-4 13th. Jeev just needed 13 putts on the back nine and 28 in all to complete the round.

Daniel Chopra, the India-born Swede trying to overcome miserable form that has dogged him for almost 18 months, shot a two-over 74 and was in joint 34 place at three-under 213.

Among other familiar names on the Asian PGA Tour, reigning Wills Indian Open champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand was the best placed at eight-under 208 which helped him tie for the sixth place. Jaidee’s countrymate Prayad Marksaeng, runner-up in 1999 Wills Indian Open, was in 15th place at six-under 210. Charlie Wi and Kang Wook-soon (both Korea) were tied along with Daniel Chopra for the 34th place at three-under 213.

SCORES (after 54 holes): 204 _ Jeev Milkha Singh (66,70,68), Katsumasa Miyamoto (69.67,68); 206 _ Kazuhiko Hosokawa (67,69,70); 207 _ Hidemichi Tanaka (69,70,68), Brendan Jones (65,68,74); 208 _ Toshikazu Sugihara (69,68,71), Dean Wilson (69,71,68), Tetsuji Hiratsuka (72,68,68), Kiyoshi Murota (72,69,67), Kosaku Makisaka (66,72,70), Thongchai Jaidee (67,70,71), Eduardo Herrera (68,68,72)