Jeev Milkha Singh was in robust form, despite feeling physically drained in the second half, as he notched up his second four-under 68 in the penultimate round of the $500,000 HSBC India Legends golf championship at the Jaypee Greens on Saturday.
Jeev’s overall 8-under effort in the three-day event saw him breathing down the neck of leader Joakim Haeggman of Sweden, one stroke behind.
It raised hopes of the 52-year-old Jeev winning his maiden international title at home.
Jyoti Randhawa followed with a par-72 score on the second day to be four strokes behind Jeev in third place. Adilson da Silva of Brazil (141), Clark Dennis of USA (142) followed the leaders.
“The ninth hole was special because I hit a bad bunker shot and I holed a good 20-foot putt. Today was a much better putting day for me. I will just give it a best shot tomorrow,” said Jeev.
Haeggman conceded that it was crucial to be patient on the challenging course in tough conditions.
“I was hitting the greens today, which is very important here because chipping and putting around thee greens are very tricky. The main difference today was I didn’t hole as many putts as I did yesterday,” said Haeggman, who was 9-under 135, after having shot 7-under 65 on the opening day.
Randhawa felt that he perhaps had put himself under pressure, “trying to play a good round”.
“It is great for the tournament that we have two Indians playing well,” acknowledged Haeggman.
