Jeev makes an excellent comeback

Just when it looked as if he would crumble under the spotlight, India's Jeev Milkha Singh authored a stunning comeback by shooting a 30 on the back nine in the million-pound Dubai Desert Classic, being played at the Emirates Golf Club, in Dubai, on Saturday.

Playing a group behind leader and world No 1 Tiger Woods, the Indian ace was two-under after three holes before making bogeys on the sixth, seventh and ninth to make the turn at one-over. That saw his position plummet from overnight third to tied 16th. But the 29-year-old made a stunning comeback on the back nine to finish the day at five-under 67.

Jeev, who played rounds of 67 and 66 on the opening two days, was thus 16-under 200 after 54 holes, four strokes behind leader Tiger Woods.

The American shot a 68 after making uncharacteristic bogeys in the middle of his round to aggregate 20-under 196. Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, who has now paired with Tiger on all three days, ensured that the two play together on Sunday when he shot a 67 to be just one stroke behind his playing partner.

Ireland’s Ryder Cup star Padraig Harrington recorded an eight-under 64 to jump one spot ahead of Jeev. Harrington, who was beaten in a three-hole playoff by Vijay Singh in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open, will pair with the Indian on the final day.

World No 4 Lee Westwood of England shot a three-under 69, but dropped down to tied 15th place at 11-under 205, while world No 7 Colin Montgomerie of Scotland climbed up to tied 13th place after submitting a seven-under 65 card on Saturday.

Jeev, who is sponsored by India.com and Hero Honda Motors, began well with birdies on the par-4 second and the par-5 third. However, after playing 41 bogey-free holes, he made his first mistake on the long par-4 sixth hole. That upset his concentration as he dropped shots on the seventh and ninth as well.

But it was a different Jeev on the back nine as he scorched the turf. After making a par on the par-5 10th, he was unstoppable as he made a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th onwards. He made pars on the 14th and 15th, as if to take a breather, and then unleashed a birdie-birdie-birdie finish to go five-under for the day.

"I just lost focus in the middle of the round today, but I am glad that I did not let things get out of my hands. I am not thinking too much about the final round as I have not played that well on the final day in the last three tournaments. I am going to be a lot more aggressive and I am not going to think about my score," said the Arjuna award winner who was watched by his proud parents.

Woods was chugging along merrily at 19-under after seven holes but had putting problems when he missed a three-footer on the eighth and a four-footer par putt on the 12th. But he then made three birdies over the last four holes to beat back the challenge of Bjorn.

SCORES (after 54 holes): 196 _ Tiger Woods (USA) 64 64 68; 197 _ Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 64 66 67; 199 _ Padraig Harrington (IRL) 66 69 64 ; 200 _ Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 67 66 67; 201 _ Ian Woosnam (WAL) 69,68,64, Angel Cabrera (ARG) 66 70 65, Paul McGinley (IRL) 70 64 67, Brian Davis (ENG) 69 65 67; 202 _ Gary Emerson (ENG) 70 67 65, Mathias Gronberg (SWE) 68 68 66; 203 _ Tony Johnstone (ZIM) 71 69 63, Anders Hansen (DEN) 70 66 67; 204 _ Colin Montgomerie (SCO) 69 70 65, Jean-Francois Remesey (FRA ) 68 68 68