Jeev shoots 69 to be tied 41st at WGC-HSBC golf

Jeev Milkha Singh overcame a poor start with a brilliant mid-round surge as he carded a three-under 69 at the end of the third round of the WGC-HSBC Champions.

Shanghai: Jeev Milkha Singh overcame a poor start with a brilliant mid-round surge as he carded a three-under 69, which brought him to two-under for 54 holes and placed him at tied 41st at the end of the third round of the WGC-HSBC Champions on Saturday.

However, fellow Indian SSP Chowrasia continued to languish at the lower end of the table with a round of one-over 73 and a total of four-over 220. He was tied 65th. Sweden`s Fredrik Jacobson posted a five-under-par 67 to take the third round lead. He leads by two after signing for a three-day total of 16-under-par 200. The 2010 British Open winner, Louis Oosthuizen returned with a 68 to take second place, while Australia`s Adam Scott is in third place at 203. World No 3, Rory McIlroy staged a comeback by carding a 65 to take a share of fourth place alongside England`s Lee Westwood on 204 at the Sheshan International Golf Club. Jeev had a bogey-bogey start from the tenth, but then birdied 13th and 18th and dropped a shot on 15th to turn in one-over 37. He then hit a purple patch with a birdie on first, eagle on second and birdies on third and fourth. He gave back one shot on his closing hole ninth, but still finished with a 68. Jacobson, who finished third in Malaysia last week, is aware of the quality of his closest challengers and knows that he will have to play above himself to win. "I don`t want to get ahead of myself. But you know, I think it`s going to take a good score again," said Jacobson, who marked his card with six birdies against a lone bogey on the par-four ninth. The 37-year-old Swede is, however, relieved that he will have the privilege of teeing off in the last group in the final round. Oosthuizen, playing alongside Jacobson, is determined to surmount a challenge and put the pressure back on the Swede on the final round. The South African reached the turn in 34 before he birdied the 15th hole to get within three shots of Jacobson. He added another birdie on the last to reduce the Swede`s advantage to two. Meanwhile, Scott had a hole-out eagle on the 18th hole to thank for keeping him in contention after a roller-coaster round, which was marked with six birdies, one eagle, three bogeys and a double-bogey. Thongchai Jaidee (68-69-72) was tied 20th at seven-under, while KJ Choi (68-70-72) was tied 25th. PTI