Jeev one stroke behind
leaders in Japan

Jeev Milkha Singh continued his brilliant run of form in Japan when he returned a superb bogey-free round of five-under 65 on the second day of the 120-million-yen (appx US$-930,000) The Crowns, the fourth event of the 2002 season of the Japanese PGA Tour.

According to information from the par-70 Nagoya Golf Club in Aichi, Japan, Jeev, who is sponsored by Hero Honda Motors, aggregated five-under 135 at the halfway stage to be one stroke behind the leaders Katsunori Kuwabara, Yoshikazu Haku (both Japan), Dean Wilson (USA) and Justin Rose (England). The Chandigarh-based pro was tied for the fifth place along with three others, including Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand, after shooting a level-par 70 on the opening day.

It was a brilliant effort from the Indian as the weather was extremely windy.

"I am delighted by the way I played today. The wind was swirling and scoring was difficult. Also, the pins were tucked today," said Jeev, over phone from Japan. His was the second-best card of the day. The best being a six-under 64 by Wilson, winner of last week's Tsuruya Open.

Jeev began with a par and made a birdie on the par-5 second hole where he reached the green in two and two-putted. A birdie on the par-4 sixth was followed by a hat-trick of birdies from the ninth hole to the 11th, where he hit some remarkable wedge shots and sank putts in the range of six to ten feet.

"My putting was awesome today and I made almost every possible birdie opportunity," said Jeev, who finished the round in just 22 putts - 12 in the front nine and 10 in the back nine.

"After the 11th, I kept making pars but this golf course is very demanding from the 12th onwards and I was actually very happy with the pars," he added.

The Crowns is Jeev's third Japanese PGA Tour event of the season. Earlier, he had finished tied for the 33rd place in the Dydo Drinco Shizuoka Open and tied 20th in the Tsuruya Open. Jeev had a brilliant 2001 in Japan, where he finished in the top-10 on six occasions and was runner-up in Iiyama Cup, a major on the Japanese Tour.