Jeev one shot off lead, tied 9th at Sun Chlorella Classic

Hokkaido, Aug 3 (UNI) Back-to-back bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes denied Jeev Milkha Singh a share of the lead and the seasoned Indian finished tied ninth with an opening round of one-under 71 in the Sun Chlorella Classic here today.

Eight players -- Koumei Oda, Takenori Hiraishi, Hisayuki Sasaki, Wen-Chong Liang, Jong-Duck Kim, Masayoshi Yamazoe, Shigeru Nonaka and Hideto Tanihara -- huddle at the top of the table with identical rounds of two-under 70 at the Otaru Country Club.

Jeev dropped a shot in the opening hole but birdied the sixth in his front nine to compensate the damage. Things brightened up in his back nine as he birdied the 10th and picked up a shot each on the 13th and 14th holes. He parred the next before successive birdies pulled him back and Jeev rounded off his day with a par shot.

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