Jeev slumps to tied 28th after penultimate round in Omaezaki

Omaezaki, July 29 (UNI) Jeev Milkha Singh could not recover from the double bogey on the opening hole and the highest ranked Indian golfer, for the first time in the week, went over par to slump to tied 28th after his penultimate round of one-over 72 in the 120 million yen Omaezaki Golf Tournament here today.

Overnight tied 10th, Jeev needed to raise his level for a top-five finish but a poor front nine nipped the hope in the bud and he slid to tied 28th with a three-day total of three-under 210.

Jeev had an ominous start, as he double bogeyed the par-four opening hole and then went on to drop a shot each on the fifth and eighth. He did manage to squeeze in a couple of birdies in between but that was not enough and he completed his halfway journey at two-over.

Jeev, however, didn't allow the setbacks to haunt him again as he resumed his journey. A birdie on the 13th hole intercepted Jeev's string of par shots in the bogey-free back nine as he ended the day one-over.

Meanwhile, Soushi Tajima's level-par show saw him clinging on to the top spot at 10-under 203 but narrowed down his lead over the trio of Paul Sheehan (67), Thammanoon Srirot (68) and S K Ho (69), who now breath down his neck from just one shot behind.

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