Jeev falters on back-nine, settles for tied 10th at The Crowns

Nagoya, Japan, Apr 30 (UNI) A poor back-nine marred his show as Jeev Milkha Singh slipped to the tied 10th spot after carding a level-par final round at the 12 million yen The Crowns tournament at the Nagoya Golf Club Wago Course here today.

The Volvo China Open winner signed off with a four-day total of eight-under 272 to finish ahead of other Asian Tour regulars like Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand who was tied 18th.

The current UBS Order of Merit leader started off well with a birdie on the second but dropped a shot on the very next hole. He recovered soon to fire two successive birdies on the fifth and sixth. The Indian was two-under after the first nine holes.

Jeev's backward journey, which was uneventful yesterday, started in a similar fashion today but the seasoned pro fumbled on the 14th and double-bogeyed. Worse followed as he dropped another shot on the 15th but regained his composure to fire his last birdie of the day on the 16th before ending with a couple of level-par shots.

At the top, overnight leader and local star Shingo Katayama (262) was clearly out of sorts today but an even-par round was enough for him to win the title. Compatriot Nozomi Kawahara (264) fell short by two shots and settled for the second spot after a three-under final round.

Another Japanese, Ryoken Kawagishi (269) signed off at the third spot after scoring a sizzling seven-under in the final round.

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