Arjun finishes 8th in Macau

Arjun Singh, who lost his Asian Tour card last year after holding it for six years since 1997, gave himself a fair chance of getting back into the fold with a tied eighth place finish at the USD 275,000 Macau Open golf tournament in Macau.

Arjun carded a four-under 67 on the final day to finish with a total of eight-under 278, as the 42-year-old Wang Ter-chang of Chinese Taipei ended a six-year winless streak emerging victorious by just one stroke over the Australian duo of Jarrod Lyle and Marcus Both, who made a fine charge with 67 and 66 respectively.

Wang turned in a card of three-under-par 68 for a total of 14-under-par 270 on a wind-swept day at the Macau Golf and Country Club.

Last year's champion Jason Knutzon took a share of fourth place with compatriot Edward Loar and Australian Terry Pilkadaris on 274 while two-time champion Zhang Lian-wei of China reserved his best for the last with the day's best round of six-under 65 that saw him shoot to eighth place.

Arjun's fine top-10 finish apart, the steady Amandeep Johl climbed to tied 20th with a final round of 70, which meant he was the only Indian to shoot par or under on all four days.

Harmeet Kahlon slipped on final day with a horrendous back nine of five-over 41 that saw him bring in a 73 and finish at five-under 283 and tie for 26th, the same as Rahil Gangjee.

Gurbaaz Mann, Uttam Mundy and Sandy Lehal all shot par rounds of 71 each, as they ended tied 31st, tied 48th and tied 55th.

The normally reticent, Arjun, who missed an entire season back in 2000 due to back injury, had his last top-10 finish -- a fourth place in Mecuries Masters -- in 2003.

"It is good to finish strongly. I played well yesterday too but made a triple bogey on eight which was costly," Arjun said.

"I birdied that hole today from 10 feet so it was good to get one back on that hole. It is good to finish in the top-10 as I don't have full status on the Asian Tour and am relying on my country exemption only."

The Indian had four birdies and a bogey on the front nine and then on the return journey, he had two more birdies and one bogey for his 67.

"This was my only second event in 2005 after Myanmar Open (where he finished sixth) in February so the money won here hopefully will push me up on the re-rank category," he said.

"It has been frustrating to not play in the big events in recent months as I have been on full status for so many years until losing my card last season. But in saying this, watching the guys play in events which I used to be in has been a motivating factor."