The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Jeev wins Singapore Open

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Monday, Nov 17, 2008
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Jeev wins Singapore Open

Finishes ahead of Harrington and Els

SINGAPORE: India’s Jeev Milkha Singh won a nail-biting Singapore Open on Sunday after Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els missed putts to take the $5 million event to a playoff.

Jeev, who has virtually sealed the Asian order of merit title with the win, started the day five shots behind leader Chapchai Nirat of Thailand but three birdies on the front nine helped him to the top of the leaderboard at seven-under par.

Three-times Major winner Harrington looked certain to force a playoff after a stunning fairway wood gave him the chance of birdie at the last, but the Irishman’s five-foot putt leaked across the face of the hole. “I couldn’t have asked for better,” the 36-year-old Jeev said in a television interview. “I’m a very fortunate man to win. The golfing gods were on my side.”

Els moved within a shot of leader Jeev with a birdie at the 16th, but a poor tee-shot on 18 left him with too much to do and the South African’s birdie putt came up just short.

Jeev takes home a winner’s cheque for $792,500 and becomes the first player on the Asian Tour to win more than $1 million in a single season. The Indian’s earnings soared to more than $1.4 million with the Singapore victory

The final scores: 277: Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind); 278: Padraig Harrington (Irl), Ernie Els (RSA); 279: Rory McIlroy (Nir), David Gleeson (Aus); 280: Charlie Wi (Kor); 281: Thomas Bjorn (Den), Chapchai Nirat (Tha); 282: Phil Mickelson (USA); 283: Mitchell Brown (Aus), Somkiat Srisanga (Tha), Simon Dyson (Eng); 284: Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Ted Oh (Kor), Scott Strange (Aus), Kim Kyung-Tae (Kor), Charl Schwartzel (RSA); 285: Darren Clarke (Nir), James Kingston (RSA), Lam Chih Bing (Sin); 286: Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn); 287: Ben Leong (Mas), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Esp), Adam Blyth (Aus), Kodai Ichihara (Jpn), Dinesh Chand (Fij), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Gaurav Ghei (Ind). — Agencies

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