Jeev makes an explosive start

Jeev Milkha Singh, the only Indian to have qualified for the European PGA Tour, made an explosive start in the new season when he shot a six-under 66 on the second day of the 500,000 pounds Alfred Dunhill Championship, the season-opening event of European Tour.

Halfway into the second round of the tournament being played at the Houghton Golf Club course in Johannesburg, South Africa, Jeev was tied for seventh place at eight-under 136, following his round of two-under 70 on the opening day.

The other Indian in the fray, Hero Honda Masters champion Arjun Atwal, shot a level-par 72 on the opening day, but that was good only for the tied-88th place. At the time of filing the report, he was one-under after three holes.

Wills Indian Open champion Jyoti Randhawa, who also had made it to the event, came to know about his entry only a day before the tournament and could not make it to the venue. Randhawa, however, confirmed that he would be playing the Mercedes Benz South African Open next week, which is also a part of the European PGA Tour.

Jeev, who is sponsored by India.com and Hero Honda Motors, was three-under after five holes on the first day. However, a series of pars unsettled him and he made successive bogies on the 14th, the longest par-4 of the course at 498 yards, and the 15th, the longest par-3 at 225 yards. He salvaged the situation by making a birdie on the final hole to finish the day at two-under and in tied 57th place on a day when as many as 87 players broke par.

It was a different Jeev who took the course on Friday. Starting from the 10th, Jeev made birdies on the 11th, 14th and 16th holes to be three-under at the turn. On the back nine, he added another on the par-4 second, before unleashing a hat-trick of birdies from the fourth hole onwards. He then parred the seventh and eight holes, before finishing the day with a bogey.

"I wanted to be at eight-under. On the final hole, I was too eager and wanted to chip in from the fringe of the green, but went about six feet past the hole and could not make the putt. It was a disappointing way to finish what was definitely my best round after the comeback," said Jeev on phone from South Africa.

The clubhouse leader at the time of filing the report was Dean Robertson of Scotland, who shot a course record 10-under 62 on the opening day, and added a two-under 70 on day two to be at 12-under. Des Terblanche, a regular on the Asian PGA Tour, was tied for the second place at 11-under 133 along with Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina. The portly South African shot a 65 on day two, while Gonzalez added an eight-under 64 to his overnight three-under 69.

Also shooting a 66 was Simon Dyson, Order of Merit winner on the Asian PGA Tour last year. Dyson, who qualified for the European PGA Tour, was tied for the fifth place at nine-under 135.