Jeev first Indian to qualify for Japanese Tour

Jeev Milkha Singh added another first to his credit on Monday when he became the only Indian in the history of professional golf to qualify for the lucrative Japanese PGA Tour.

At the par-72 UMK golf course in Miyazaki, a southern city in Japan, Jeev shot an amazing round of eight-under 64 on the final day to finish tied for the third place in the extremely competitive final stage of the Q-School.

Jeev, who is sponsored by Hero Honda, tallied 15-under 417 for six rounds.

The winner was T Kondo of Japan at 20-under 412, while another Japanese, Sakiyama, was second at 19-under 413.

Jeev, who is also the only Indian to have qualified for the European PGA Tour, was among 200 participants who made it to the final stage. The cut was applied after four rounds and the top-90 and ties received their cards for the 2001 season. Of these, only the top-40 will get full exemption and can pick and choose their events during the season.

It was a huge boost to Jeev’s morale as he could only get a limited exemption on the European PGA Tour after missing most of the tournaments last season due to a nagging wrist injury. The Japanese PGA Tour is the third richest in the world after US and European PGA Tour and gets heavy weightage on the official world ranking. The 2001 season of the Tour will have 31 tournaments with a total prize money of approximately US$-35 million.

On the final day, Jeev made seven birdies and an amazing eagle on the longest hole of the course – the par-5 10th. "I was lucky as my drive hit the cart path and travelled almost 400 yards. I just needed a 6-iron to the green whereas I was using a 3-wood or a 2-iron for my second shot in the earlier rounds," said Jeev, talking on telephone from Japan. He made only one bogey -- a three-putt on the fifth hole.

"I played the back nine under rain but that somehow helped my game as after making the turn at 3-under, I completed the back nine in 5-under," he added.

"After all the heartbreaks of this year, I think it is a perfect opening for me in the new season. I shot a low number after a long time and that has added to the joy of qualifying. I now have cards for three Tours -- Asian PGA, European PGA and the Japanese PGA. It will give me experience of playing all over the world. I am planning to play at least 15 events here and am aiming for a top-20 spot in the Order of Merit which will get me a direct entry into the final stage of the US PGA Tour. Qualifying to play in the United States is my ultimate objective," said Jeev, who now goes to the US over Christmas for a final check-up on his wrist.

"I am glad that my wrist did not play up after six rigorous rounds of golf. That has given me a lot of heart and I take it as a good omen for the new season," he added.

The 29-year-old Chandigarh pro next plays two European Tour events in South Africa -- the South African Open and the South African PGA Championship -- starting from the third week of January.