Jeev finishes sixth in Madrid

Superstar Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh matched his best finish in the 2001 season of the European PGA Tour when he shot a seven-under 64 on the final day to finish tied for sixth place in the 1.4 million Euro prize-money Telefonica Open de Madrid, which concluded at Club de Campo, on Sunday.

At the 6957 yards, par-71 course, the Indian ace tallied 16-under 268 for the tournament despite starting with a one-over 72 that left him tied for the 87th place and struggling to make the cut after the opening day.

However, the Hero Honda-sponsored pro went from strength to strength after that. A four-under 67 on day two lifted him to tied 49th place and he easily made it to the weekend rounds with a two-day tally of three-under 137. The cut fell at one-under 139.

Jeev then blitzed the course on the third and the final day.

On Saturday, the Chandigarh pro returned a bogey-free card of six-under 65 during which he birdied all the three par-5s of the course. On the final day, Jeev was paired with Irish superstar Padraig Harrington and completely overshadowed his more illustrious partner with six birdies and one eagle as against two bogeys.

Jeev made a birdie on the par-4 second, but that was nullified by his first bogey on the very next hole. Thereafter, he eagled the 518-yards, par-5 fourth and birdied the ninth and 10th to go four-under. The par-4 13th proved to be unlucky for the 30-year-old as he made his second and last bogey there, but romped home in style with birdies on the 14th, 15th and 17th.

The tied-sixth finish matched his previous best on the European Tour this season. He had a similar finish in March this year at the Dubai Dessert Classic, where he also set an European PGA Tour putting record of lowest aggregate of putts for four rounds. Jeev’s best finish of 2001 was a runner-up place in the JGTO iiyama Cup, a ‘major’ on the Japanese PGA Tour.

"I am delighted with the way I played over the weekend. This is a tremendous boost ahead of my PGA Tour Q-School preparations," said Jeev, who was exempt from the first stage of the Q-School because of his sterling performance in Japanese PGA Tour.

While the top-10 finish obviously thrilled Jeev, it also lifted him from 122nd place in the Volvo Order of Merit to 105th. That will comfortably hand him his playing privilege in Europe for the coming season.

"I needed to do well in Madrid and the week after this as I was becoming a borderline case for retaining my card. The top 115 are sure to retain their card," said Jeev, who has played just 14 tournaments in Europe this season but yet managed to keep his card.

The tournament was won by the reigning US Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa, who also captured the Order of Merit title with his third victory of the season. Goosen shot a three-under 68 on the final day to force a playoff with Steve Webster of England at 20-under 264. He then birdied the third hole in the playoff to seal the title.

Scores (after 72 holes): 264 _ Retief Goosen (SAf) 66,64,66,68, Steve Webster (Eng) 68,62,68,66 (Goosen won in a playoff); 265 _ Brian Davis (Eng) 66,64,73,62, Diego Borrego (Esp) 69,65,64,67; 267 _ Markus Brier (Aut) 67,68,66,66; 268 _ Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 72,67,65,64, Anders Hansen (Den) 68,69,65,66, Darren Clarke (NIr) 67,69,65,67, Robert Coles (Eng) 66,69,69,64; 269 _ Thomas Bjorn (Den) 68,71,66,64, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 68,69,65,67