My best victory is still the Volvo Masters: Jeev

Sudeshna Guha Roy Jeev Milkha Singh had a tumultuous 2008. On one hand, he registered four victories before grabbing the highest points in the Order of Merit and the Players’ “Player of the Year” award; on the other hand, his personal life faced a major jolt after his wife, Kudrat, gave birth to a stillborn baby.Still when I met the ace golfer at Greater Noida’s Jaypee Greens golf course, where he was competing with the nation’s best for the BILT Open trophy, he wore a brave smile on his face and seemed to be as calm as a deep sea. His performance throughout the year earned him praises from all around the globe. I expected him to give me quite a long ‘byte’ when I asked him about what he thought of his performance this year. After a long sigh of relief he said, “Pretty happy the way I played this year and I am ready for a break.” Saying this, he started laughing like a small kid, who just cannot wait to go for a holiday. The Chandigarh lad retained his second position throughout the final day and lost the tournament trophy Jyoti Randhawa by a shot. Finishing 18-under 270, Jeev signed of the hectic season by playing his first PGTI tournament of the year. After winning four tournaments in 2006 (one each at the Asian and European tours, and two in the Japan circuit), Jeev repeated the same feat this year. Despite considering the current year better than 2006, the top Indian golfer considers the victory at the Volvo Masters better than all his other triumphs. “2008 (is more special) for sure because my performance in the Major championships was much better and I won bigger tournaments this year. But the best win is still the Volvo Masters in 2006,” said the golfer. Jeev’s victory at the Volvo Masters in 2006 added a golden chapter in the history of Indian golf as he became the first Indian to win a tournament in Europe. The Indian’s last title of the season was Golf Nippon Series JT Cup, which he played just a couple of days after the personal trauma struck him. His wife, Kudrat, convinced him to play after Jeev decided to abstain him from the event. Thanks to Kudrat, Jeev not only won the tournament, but the victory also helped him reach his career best rank of 36th. Now eyeing to play all the four Majors next year, Jeev said a couple of days ago that he would be cutting down on his Asian tour appearances. He said that a two weeks holiday will help him to recover from his injuries and prepare for next year.“Yes, I have been injured quite a bit this year, so my main goal is going to be to take a break for two weeks, get fit, and then get ready for the Majors. And I would also be cutting down on the tournaments because of my injuries. I am going to cut down almost 5 weeks. It was 37 this year, next year it’s going to be 32.” Jeev, the son of legendary Olympian Milkha Singh, is an inspiration to million of golf lovers throughout India and outside. However, he felt that a lot more needs to be done to make the game more popular in the country. “More public driving range in the country; I think that will help (to make the game more popular in the nation). And also you guys (the media)… Every time a player plays well, you put it in the media,” said Jeev. The BILT Open saw India’s best golfers putting forward their candidature for the Rs. 80 lakh trophy. Rookie Anirban Lahiri stunned everyone as he held the lead for three days. He finally fell pray to some miscalculations on the greens on the last day and gave away the game to Randhwa. However, Jeev did not hold himself back to praise the young talent and said, “He (Lahiri) is fantastic. It is great to watch kids like him come up. I feel they need to take us guys on. I feel they can do better than us. They can take the world down there.”