Armed with a hot putter, Jeev Milkha Singh made a sensational debut as a PGA Tour member, eliminating three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington in the opening round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson, Arizona.
Jeev simply out-putted his illustrious opponent 3 and 1 in the Jones Bracket to create a flutter and the Indian now faces Matt Kuchar in the second round at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club.
This is Jeev's best show in this elite $.5 million tournament, having crashed out with first-round defeats in his previous two attempts.
Jeev is banking on a good result here to move back into the top-50 of the world rankings to qualify for the Masters tournament in April.
Harrington birdied the third hole to go one up but Jeev drew parity when he parred the fifth and his opponent bogeyed it. The pair was all square till the 12 holes when Jeev pulled away.
The Indian birdied the 13th and 14th to go two up and then he drained an eight-footer for a final birdie on the 17th hole to go three up for a memorable victory.
"In match play, it all comes down to who holes more putts and I was lucky enough to do that," an elated Jeev later said.
Harrington agreed Jeev's superior short game made all the difference and said, "He out-putted me. I putted badly (and) he putted well."
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