Sports India

Jeev Milkha Singh continues his globe-trotting ways at the Smurfit European Open at The K Club on Thursday bidding for a ticket to The Open Championship later this month.

The resurgent Indian star, the leader of the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit, takes on a star-studded cast in the European Tour event and will be joined by compatriot Jyoti Randhawa and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee.

Since mid-April, Singh has been raking in the air miles travelling the world’s airways, riding on his new-found form which saw him lift the Volvo China Open for his first title in seven years.

The triumph sparked a terrific run of form where he went on to post five other top-10s in Asia and the Japan Golf Tour over a span of 10 tournaments.

In between, Singh also qualified and played in all four rounds at the US Open in New York and his second trip to Europe this season will see him bid for a place at The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, England later this month.

Singh is also slated to play in next week’s Barclays Scottish Open and the leading player in the top-10, not otherwise exempt for The Open, in the two European Tour events will earn at ticket to Royal Liverpool, something Singh is yearning for.

Last week’s tied ninth finish at the UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship was his eighth top-10 of the year but Singh knows he must improve on his putting if he is to challenge in Ireland and Scotland over the next fortnight.

“I think I hit the ball the best I have this year actually, but I just did not convert anything. I had 33 putts (in the final round last week), which does not help,” said Singh.

“I think putting is all mental and I need to concentrate more on that than anything else. I have been putting well, but I am not trusting it. I am normally a very good putter. I just have to work harder on the putting and we will sort it out,” said Singh.

Singh has never played in The Open before and came close at the Mizuno Open in Japan two weeks ago. The top-four finishers qualified for Royal Liverpool but Singh finished tied sixth.

Amongst the top stars Singh must contend with this week include Retief Goosen, Michael Campbell, Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington. The K Club will also host the Ryder Cup later in September.