Jeev records best by Indian

Jeev Milkha Singh hung in for a top-20 finish, the best result among the Indians in difficult conditions at the USD 1.2 million UBS Hong Kong Open golf tournament on Sunday.

Jeev carded a one-over 73 on the final day to finish tied 18th but it was Gaurav Ghei (72) who was the only Indian to improve upon his previous day's position, moving from 32nd to 26th. Shiv Kapur (73), playing with Ghei, ended 30th.

For Jyoti Randhawa (75) it was a struggle as he ended 48th while Amandeep Johl stayed in the 62nd position at the Hong Kong Golf Club course.

It was a day for the experienced and lion-hearted and none showed it better than Scotsman Colin Montgomerie, who fought back difficult bogeys with excellent birdies to grab the title at a venue where he made his international debut as an amateur 21 years ago.

The final day saw extremely difficult scoring conditions with just five sub-par scores leading to an extremely tight finish, which while being exciting for the spectators, was very demanding on the golfers.

It was in the end a matter of nerves, as James Kingston, one ahead on the 18th tee, went behind a tree with his drive.

With nerves taking over, he came out but then pitched short with his third shot. The next chip, his fourth shot, still left him a lot to do and he ended with a six that pushed him into a crowded five-way tie for the second place after a 71 that saw him end at eight-under for the week.

FINAL LEADING SCORES: 271: Colin Montgomerie (69-66-66-70)  272: Lin Keng-Chi (68-69-66-69), K J Choi (67-72-64-69), Thammanoon Srirot (71-67-66-68), Edward Loar (68-64-71-69), James Kingston (68-69-64-71);  273: Thongchai Jaidee (68-68-67-70), Damien Mcgrane (68-71-63-71), Kang Wook-Soon (64-70-68-71)  274: Simon Yates (69-69-61-75)  275: Martin Erlandsson (65-68-68-74), Peter Gustafsson (69-69-67-70), Rick Gibson (65-66-71-73);  276: Andrew Butterfield (69-65-69-73), Maarten Lafeber (72-68-63-73), Ted Oh (72-67-67-70), Richard Bland (70-68-67-71)  277: Jeev Milkha Singh (69-69-66-73), Scott Barr (67-72-67-71), Jose Manuel Lara (67-70-69-71), Soren Kjeldsen (66-69-70-72)

Indian Scores: 277: Jeev Milkha Singh (69-69-66-73) tied 18th  279: Gaurav Ghei (68-72-67-72) tied 26th  280: Shiv Kapur (69-70-68-73) tied 30th  283: Jyoti Randhawa (65-71-72-75) tied 48 th 287: Amandeep Johl (72-69-71-75) tied 62nd.