NOBODY could accuse Indian
golfer Jeev Milkha Singh of having
had a dull year so far - and
eventful was certainly the way to
describe his opening 66 in the
Irish Open yesterday.
One of three Asian players invited
to the Masters at Augusta
last month, something which
Colin Montgomerie had harsh
words to say about, Singh shares
the lead at Adare Manor with
Australian left-hander Richard
Green.
In the space of 30 minutes the
36-year-old went from having a
near-albatross to tangling with a
bush with one hand in his pocket
and salvaging par with a 40-
foot putt.
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It was the sort of rescue act
that Montgomerie and defending
champion Padraig Harrington
were unable to produce.
The former, whose 88th position
on the world rankings represents
his lowest standing in the
game since 1990, managed only a
75 after running up a doublebogey
seven on the 528-yard seventh.
Harrington, meanwhile, returned
a 72 that included a bogey
six on the long 18th after he
hooked his drive into the River
Maigue.
Darren Clarke also shot 72,
Paul McGinley 73 and Lee Westwood
75, but their 19-year-old stablemate
Rory McIlroy is well in
touch following his 70.
Former Volvo Masters champion
Singh hit a three-wood to a
foot on the seventh for his eagle,
but found the bushes behind the
green with his pitch to the 631-
yard ninth.
The first thing was to get a ref
to make sure I didn't break any
rules,'' he explained.
You can't touch anything and
that's why I put my hand in my
pocket and took it out when I had
to grip the club.
My backswing was about a
foot and a half and I was more
worried about just hitting the
ball. It could have gone anywhere.''
He was happy enough with getting
it on the green and making
the 40-footer was just icing on the
cake.
Singh, son of an Olympic running
star, has already finished
second twice on the European
Tour this season, losing a play-off
to Graeme McDowell in Korea a
week after a freak accident when
his caddie drove a golf cart into
a palm tree.
I never thought that carts
could be that dangerous. I went
flying, banging my head against
the windscreen and bouncing
out.''
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