Jeev qualifies for final stage

Jeev Milkha Singh qualified for the final stage of the US PGA Tour Qualifying School tournament on Friday.

The first Indian golfer to play on the European Tour, he finished with a four-under 284 to emerge in tied-seventh position after the completion of the second stage of qualifying on the Black Horse Course, Seaside, California, United States.

Jeev had scores of 69, 73, 69 and 73 in the four rounds of the event, which was won by Alabama's Tyler Williamson with a nine-under 279.

The 29-year-old Jeev had finished tied sixth in the Telefonica Open de Madrid a fortnight ago.

In addition to Williamson, others to make it through at Black Horse included former NCAA champion Luke Donald, Jeff Brehaut, Trevor Dodds, Gary Hallberg and Jason Caron.

The Hero Honda-sponsored Jeev was tied with Pewaukee's Mark Wilson and Las Vegan Eric Meeks.

Arjun Atwal, the other Indian playing the Q-School, finished tied-30th at two-over 290. The 2000 Hero Honda Masters champion, who failed to qualify, had scores of 74, 73, 72 and 71.

The final qualifying tournament will start from November 28 at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The top 35 players and ties from that event will earn PGA Tour playing cards for the 2002 season.

Jyoti Randhawa and Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra are the other players of Indian interest at the Q-School second stage, and will be in action from November 13 at the Orange Country National Club in Orlando, Florida.