Sports India

Asian Tour leader Jeev Milkha Singh faltered on the back nine but managed to card a level par opening round for a decent tied ninth position at the UBS Japan Golf Tour championship at the par 70 Shishido Hills Golf Club near here on Thursday.

Jeev, who recently rubbed shoulders with the who’s who of the golfing fraternity in the U.S. Open, is enjoying terrific form with seven top 10 finishes and the Volvo China Open under his belt.

The other Indian in the field, Amandeep Johl, playing on a special sponsor’s invite from the UBS group, shot a 2 over 72 to be in tied 39th place.

Murota in lead

Japan’s Kiyoshi Murota leads the pack with a five under 65, followed closely by fellow Japanese Toru Taniguchi and Tommy Nakajima with identical scorecards of three under 67.

Jeev, teeing of on the first hole, started with an excellent front nine of three under par 32, which included birdies on the sixth, seventh and ninth holes.

However, Jeev faltered coming in with a double on the 12th and added another bogey to his scorecard on the 14th hole.

With par’s on the remaining holes he ended up with an even par 70.

“I was disappointed with the back nine, however there are three more rounds to go,'’ Jeev said later.