Jeev survives hardest day, is tied 16th at Augusta

AUGUSTA: The Augusta National bared its fangs in the most menacing fashion, but India’s Jeev Milkha Singh played one of the smartest rounds of his career to give himself a long shot at the title.

Playing in very challenging conditions, debutant Jeev shot a 76 that looked certain to be much better before he ran into unexpected late double bogey on the 15th.

At the end he had totalled 223, which was only five shots off the leader Stuart Appleby (73), who was followed by Tiger Woods and Justin Rose as in the last hour of action golfers crumbled in the windy and chilly conditions.

Jeev was placed tied 16th, a position if he maintains will guarantee a return to the Masters next year. The top-16 and tied are assured of a berth into the following year’s Masters.