Jeev tied for second place

Ace Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh looked all set to qualify for the final stage of the US PGA Tour Qualifying School when he shot his second consecutive three-under 69 at the Black Horse Course in Seaside, California, on Thursday.

According to reports, the Hero Honda-sponsored golfer from Chandigarh was tied for the second place at six-under 210 after three rounds.

The other Indian golfer in contention, Arjun Atwal, was on the bubble after his third-round one-over 73, which placed him at tied 20th place at three-over 219.

The top 21 players from the venue will make it to the final stage of the Q-School, scheduled to be played over six rounds at the PGA West Course at La Quinta, California from December 4 for 9, 2002.

The third Indian interest in the tournament, Sweden's Daniel Chopra, who honed his golfing skills in India, however, lost ground following a disastrous six-over 78 at the Stonebridge Country Club in McKinney, Texas. That pushed him down to tied 47th place at four-over 220. He would now require an exceptional final round as the qualifying mark is projected to be a score of one-under 287.

Jeev, who qualified for the final stage last year but could only get a limited exemption to the Buy.com Tour, opened with a level-par 72 on Tuesday, shot a three-under 69 on Wednesday to climb up to tied fifth place. His card of 69 on day three was the second best following a 67 by Doug Labelle II of Arizona.

Jeev was just one stroke off the leader, Rob Bradley of Louisville, Kentucky. Bradley had rounds of 70, 69 and 70 on the three days.

It has been a stupendous effort from the Chandigarh golfer as he could not manage even a single practice round on the course following a dash from halfway across the world in Japan, on Sunday, where he played the Philip Morris Championship on the Japanese PGA Tour.

Atwal, winner of this year's Caltex Singapore Masters and the current leader of the Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit, shot a one-under-par 71 on day two after an opening-round 75. The European PGA Tour regular from Kolkata would require a solid round on the final day to make his first appearance on the final stage of the Qualifying School.