Year of Green Revolution: Jeev crowned Sultan of Swing

Undated (UNI) It was Green Revolution of another kind and Jeev Milkha Singh returned from seven years in the wilderness to be crowned the ''Sultan of Swing'' as his rich harvest forced a cricket-obsessed nation and a certain Tiger Woods as well, to sit up and take notice.

Indian golf never had it so good and the year 2006 clearly belonged to Jeev, arguably the hottest golfer in the planet, who ended a seven-year title drought with Volvo China Open and his insatiable hunger yielded three more titles in a bumper year.

A wrist injury, flagging morale and diminishing confidence had compounded Jeev's problem before the Indian found his nirvana and realised process, and not outcome, was more important for him. And the results were immediately showing.

Volvo China Master applied balm on the wounds created by seven years of staring down the barrel and it turned out to be just the appetiser for Jeev.

For those who thought China was fluke, Jeev came up with a stunner in the Volvo Masters in Spain, silencing Ryder Cup top guns like Sergio Garcia, Padrig Harrington and Luke Donald to lift the trophy.

And back-to-back triumphs in his happy hunting ground of Japan Tour -- at Casio World Open and Golf Nippon Series JT Cup -- made it a memorable year, which also saw Jeev scooping up three main honours at the Asian Tour's UBS Awards Gala 2006.

Jeev swept the award ceremony by winning Players' Player of the Year, inaugural UBS Special Achievement Award and the UBS Order of Merit title.

The Indian ended the year on a career-highest 37th rankings, which guarantees him starts in all four Majors next year.

And apart from winning the votes of his peers, Jeev also earned a word of praise from Woods, with whom he was paired in the HSBC Champions field in Hong Kong.

''What he did at Valderamma, obviously, and what he's doing in Asia, he's having a great year. I think it's just a matter of confidence. He's playing a lot of golf and he's starting to turn the corner. It's good to see. I know about him quite a bit and he's such a great guy,'' Woods said of the Indian.

Among fellow club-swingers, Jyoti Randhawa, giving Jeev company in the elite league of top 100 players, also tasted success at home soil when he lifted the Indian Open.

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