I will give my best, says Jeev

Jeev Milkha Singh is the only Indian to qualify for the European PGA Tour and with his superb display has retained his tour card with a earning of over 60,000 pounds. Jeev is among the 90 top professional golfers of the country who will be seen in action. Addressing the newspersons here today, Sunil Kant Munjal, of Hero Group, said “Honda-Siel PGA champion Uttam Singh Mundy, Gaurav Ghei, Arjun Atwal, last season’s Mahindra Player of the Year Vijay Kumar, twice Indian Open champion Ali Sher and current leader in the Order of Merit Shiv Prakash have also confirmed their entries.”

However, winner of the Hero Honda Masters Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Singh have withdrawn from the tournament. Jyoti Randhawa is taking a `break’ while Arjun is unwell `sustained wings (ribs) injury’.

Breaking the tradition of having the Pro-Am competition on the first day of the tournament, the organisers have decided to hold it after the main competition, on November 22. Munjal declared that “a number of celebrities would take part in the Pro-Am meet. World record holder of taking maximum number of wickets in cricket Kapil Dev Nikhanj and former Test all-rounder Madan Lal are in the list of celebrities.”

“Amitabh Bachhan and Ajay Jadeja are also on our hit list,” announced a spokesman of the organising committee.

Jeev and another local star Amritinder Singh were present during the press conference. Jeev Milkha, who has now had a third-second-second finish on the Omega Tour is the hot favourite for the first prize of Rs 1,33,000. Arjun Atwal, who was fifth in the Hero Honda Masters and eigth in the Thailand Open is also itching for the title. Surya Nepal Open winner Vijay Kumar along with Shiv Prakash and Ali Sher are also formidable opponents.

The Hero Golf meet has been shifted to Chandigarh as the Ranjitgargh Golf Course in Phillaur is under renovation and the sponsors were of the view that there should be no break in the tournament. The 13th tournament of the Wills Sports Indian Golf Tour, is being jointly sponsored by Hero Honda Motors and Hero Cycles.

The top 40 players would share the prize money. While the winner gets a cheque for Rs 1,33,280, runner-up will receive Rs 88,880 and third place holder will be richer by Rs 51,280.