Jeev had a fairytale season last year, which yielded four titles and the icing on the cake was his waffer-thin one stroke victory over Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington.
Jeev Milkha Singh returns to Valderrama with a dent in confidence after a poor season
SOTOGRANDE: With Europe’s creme de la creme — including eight past champions — jostling for glory, the setting is surely not for those weak at heart and a decent finish in the 20th edition of the Volvo Masters would be a pragmatic target for Jeev Milkha Singh when he tees off to defend his title on Thursday.
Jeev had a fairytale season last year, which yielded four titles and the icing on the cake was his waffer-thin one stroke victory over Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington who were hunting at his heels.
It would need a miracle of sort to repeat the feat but a top 10 finish should be good enough for Jeev, who would be joined by compatriot Jyoti Randhawa, the man following him as the second highest ranked Indian golfer.
Jeev has been paired with Valderrama rookie Fredrik Andersson-Hed of Sweden for the first round, while Randhawa would have British Ryder Cup star Luke Donald for company.
This 20th edition of the event is expected to live up to its billing as the magnificent season finale and in addition to the top 60 on the Order of Merit after the Mallorca Classic, Volvo has invited all past winners back to Valderrama to commemorate the 20th edition.
Ronan Rafferty (1989), Sandy Lyle (1992), Colin Montgomerie (1993 and 2002), Alex Cejka (1995), Miguel Angel Jimnez (1999), Harrington (2001), Ian Poulter (2004), Paul McGinley (2005) and Jeev (2006) will be seen in action.
Apart from them, 10 players will be making their Volvo Masters debuts and the list includes first time winners on The European Tour Gregory Bourdy, Ross Fisher, Mikko Ilonen and YE Yang.
Other Valderrama rookies are Fredrik Andersson-Hed, Pelle Edberg, Mark Foster, Martin Kaymer, Oliver Wilson and Randhawa.
Hostile course may suit Shiv
New bunkers and added yardage might actually prove a blessing in disguise for Shiv Kapur when the Delhi golfer tees off in the $ 4 million Barclays Singapore Open at the Sentosa Golf Club on Thursday.
Kapur arrived high on confidence after a solid season on the European Tour and while the revamped course might put some of his peers on a spot of bother, the Indian would be banking on his straigth hitting game to come off with flying colours.
Of late, the course has added new bunkers and an additional 120 yards while new greens have also been designed by the club. Kapur has been paired with Prom Meesawat and Charles Howell III.
The event will see rich Indian participation with Gaurav Ghei, Rahil Gangjee, SSP Chowrasia, Amandeep Johl, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Digvijay Singh, Harmeet Kahlon, Uttam Singh Mundy, Arjun Singh and Gurbaaz Mann in the fray.
Atwal gets a last chance
With the prospect of going through qualification school looming large, Arjun Atwal would have to conjure up something special in the season finale, the $ 775,000 Nationwide Tour Championship, to catapult himself to the top-25 in the money list and secure his 2008 PGA Tour card.
Atwal slipped from 57th to 60th place in the money list after missing the cut by two shots at Miccosukee Championship last week and barely managed to qualify for the season finale here which opens its door only for the top-60 from that list.
After this event, top-25 in the money list would get their 2008 PGA Tour card, while those in 26-60 would continue on the Nationwide Tour.
Atwal, who has had little ups and more downs this season, would have Hunter Haas for company and they would be the first pair to tee off on Thursday.
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