Jeev Milkha Singh exhibited his remarkable ability to fight back to overcome a none-too-happy start to finish with a level par round of 72 after the third round of the USD 1.8m BMW Asian Open golf tournament at the Tomson Pudong Shanghai Golf Club on Saturday.
On a gloomy, cold and windy afternoon, Jeev -- who was two over after seven holes at one stage -- went into the water off the tee on the 18th, his ninth hole for the day.
Earlier, Jeev -- left on the 18th fairway when play was suspended yesterday evening -- completed his second round with a par on the 18th this morning. His two-round total of three-over just about got him in at tied 61st place as 73 players got into the money rounds.
But his third round 72 lifted him to tied 35th, as scoring continued to be a tough task.
Shiv Kapur, the other Indian making the cut, had a tough day with four bogeys and no birdies to be four-over for the day and five-over after 54 holes. He was tied 54th, down from 35th, where he was after two rounds.
Swede Henrik Stenson clung on to his one shot lead over the field with a one-under 71 which had three birdies and two bogeys in the third round. One behind him in sole second place was Gonzalo Fernandez Castano of Spain, who would have shared the lead but for his bogey on the finishing 18th hole.
Fernandez-Castano (69), who had given Jeev a run for his money last week in Volvo China Open, is now five-under for three rounds.
Kiwi Mahal Pearce shot the day's best of four-under 68 to tie at third place with Australian Peter O'Malley (69) and Englishman Paul Casey (69).
Austrian Markus Brier (70), who had one of three eagles of the day, was tied for sixth with Scot Paul Lawrie (73) at three-under. The better-known Scot, Colin Montgomerie (71), spoiled what looked a good day with a double bogey on 16th to be two-under and in tied eighth with Portuguese Joe Filipe Lima (73).
Jeev was two over after seven holes with bogeys on 14th and 16th, where he missed 10-footers for par after coming out of the bunker in one and recovering from a bad drive on the other. Then he smashed his tee shot into the left water on the 18th. But he hit a great third shot -- after taking a penalty -- and then found dead center of the cup from 15 feet for a great par.
"That set the things going for me," said Jeev, who then birdied the first and almost eagled the second. "I missed that eagle putt from 15 feet, but still got the birdie."
Over the next three holes, he displayed the same kind of chipping and putting that had taken him to a win last week. He parred the par-3 third after getting into the bunker and again did the same on the fourth. He missed the green on the fifth, but a great chip-putt saved the day again.
It was on the sixth, that he erred. His drive was close to the trees and he hit one smack in the middle with his second shot. He bogeyed that hole and then parred the next two, missing a birdie by millimeters on seventh.
On the closing hole, the ninth, he had a minor scare when he could not find the ball. Not only did he get out of the rough well, but went on birdie from 12 feet. "I am proud of the way I fought back," he said. "The cold and wind is something that I am okay with as these are conditions that we get in Japan."
Kapur had a tough day out there with a two bogeys each on the front and back nines after starting from the tenth. "It was tough out there," said Kapur, who left quite a few putts out there.
In the morning, the players came back to complete their second rounds. Kapur lying in the bunker in front of the 18th green got his par with a safe up-and-down for a round of 74 and was one-over after two rounds. Jeev, right on the line at three-over, needed to par from fairway. He played safe to do that ensure a paying weekend. Rahil Gangjee, on the 15th and at 13-over, did not start and was disqualified.
Meanwhile, the other three Indians missed the cut with Gaurav Ghei (75) and Amandeep Johl (76) at seven-over and Harmeet Kahlon (75) at nine over.
Stenson completed his last in par for an even par 72 and took the lead at five-under 139 at the midway stage. The Swede, who led the first round on Thursday, was on the 18th green on five-under before lightning suspended play. On resumption Stenson narrowly missed a 10-foot birdie putt and tapped in for par at the par five 18th hole.
