‘I’m putting pressure on myself’

Had one seen Jeev Milkha Singh prepare for the 2009 season at the start of the year, it would have been difficult not to admire his determination. More than 50 per cent of his time, during his two-week stay at his hometown Chandigarh in January, was spent polishing his game at the golfing range and improving his fitness.

But considering the hard work he had put in, the results aren’t too flattering. The 2009 season is almost half way through and Jeev has managed just one top-10 finish and missed the cut three times. A lot was expected from him this year, especially after having a spectacular 2008 where he won the Asian Order of Merit.

Even he agrees that the season so far has been ‘average’. In a strange co-incidence, in 2007 — the year after Jeev won the Asian Order of Merit for the first time — the 37-year-old pro didn’t have a great time on the greens, managing just one top-ten finish that year. So what is going wrong?

“I am putting too much pressure on myself. I have said before how I hate getting result-oriented and that’s what is happening to me,” Jeev told DNA from London. “I haven’t done badly but it certainly hasn’t been a good season. But this is different from what it was in 2007. I am getting good starts this year. Unfortunately, I am not able to capitalise on them.”

After a promising start to the season with a fourth place finish at the WGC CA Championships and a decent show at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Jeev has struggled to make an impact. He has struggled on his short game (pitching, putting and chipping) and at times has looked a bit defensive.

“On some courses, playing aggressively can be dangerous. Like at Doral (CA C’ship) Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney had raced ahead but playing aggressively on the back nine there could be risky for me. So I concentrated on making a good finish and I managed to do that,” he said.

Even at the Augusta Masters, where he was paired with Tiger Woods, Jeev failed to capitalise on a good opening round and he eventually did not make the cut. It was one of those few weekends for him where the occasion got to him.

Jeev will still play at least seven more tournaments on the US Tour to realise his dream of winning a title there. However, his immediate target is to secure his US PGA Tour Card for next year by attaining the Special Temporary Membership (STM). It will allows him to play unlimited tournaments this year. Without attaining STM he can only play a maximum of 12 events on the PGA Tour, including the Majors and the WGCs. “I needed about $38,000 to attain my STM before the start of the Players Championship,” he said.

Jeev will play three back-to-back tournaments in Europe starting with the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England from May 21. After that the European Open at the London Golf Club he’ll feature in the one in Wales before heading back to the States for the US Open.