Jeev surges ahead

NEW DELHI, NOV 7: While Jeev Milkha Singh seeks golf's winning ways, young Jyoti Randhawa, who may well have been sharing the lead with him,...

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NEW DELHI, NOV 7: While Jeev Milkha Singh seeks golf’s winning ways, young Jyoti Randhawa, who may well have been sharing the lead with him, and Gaurav Ghei learnt about the game’s cruel ways, as the US $200,000 Hero Honda Masters gathered itself for the final drama on Sunday.

Jeev Milkha Singh, without a win in last 26 months, shot his third successive sub-par round — a 69 to go with 67 and 71 on first two days — was nine-under and ahead by a stroke from American Gerry Norquist.

Norquist, 70, shares the second spot with old friend and colleague, Mike Cunning.

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The rain, the rules and Jeev were the topics of conversation at the Delhi Golf Club. When Jeev arrived for the tee off, the skies had darkened and then it started pouring resulting in a hour-long delay.

Jeev, who expressed happiness at his play — just three bogeys in three days — carded a fine 69, which had one birdie on the first hole and then two more on the 11th and 12th. On the 16th he dropped a stroke by hitting a flyer over thegreen.

Jeev also had to keep his focus as his playing partners’ Gaurav Ghei and Sanjay Kumar, who just fell apart. Sanjay shot a 77 after a terrible 41 on the front nine with two double bogeys on the sixth and the ninth. Ghei, after a 37 on the first nine, seemed to have collected himself and then came the nightmarish 16th hole for a quadruple bogey. He dropped another stroke on the 17th with a simple miss for a par putt. Five strokes gone in two holes.

On the third, after he had birdied the second to go nine under and lead with Cunning, Jyoti Randhawa had his first shot lying on soft ground. When he put his foot near the ball, water came up and he took that as a `casual hazard’ and took a free drop. Norquist called the referee to check if it was indeed a situation where Jyoti was justified in taking a free drop. The referee ruled it was not and Jyoti was docked two strokes.

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Leading scores after 54 holes: 207: Jeev Milkha Singh; 208: M Cunning (US), G Norquist (US); 209: J Randhawa; 210: CarlosEspinosa (Mex), Scott Taylor (US); 211: Rafael Ponce (Ecu), Arjun Atwal; 212: Justin Cooper (Aus), Vivek Bhandari, Mardan Mamat (Sin), Daniel Chopra (Swe); 213: Adrian Percey (Aus): 214: Amritinder Singh, Basad Ali, Grant Dodd (Aus); 215: Andrew Pitss, Clay Devers (US), Wayne Bradley (RSA), Craig Kamps (RSA), Scott Rowe (HK).