Setback for Jeev, placed joint 33rd

New Delhi, March 7: Jeev Milkha Singh’s hopes of making a good finish at the Portugese Algrave Open suffered a slight setback on the third day when he shot one-over 73 to slip to joint 33rd place at Penina, Portugal today.A European tour regular, Jeev had an up-and-down third round as he shot six bogies, three birdies and an eagle to take his 54-hole aggregate to one-under 215, seven strokes adrift off the leaders.

Jeev is currently ranked 181st in the world — the only Indian to break into the top 200 of the world rankings. Leading the tournament with an eight-under 208 aggregate were Englishmen John Bickerton and Van Phillips and Massimo Scarpa of Italy. Bickerton, who was tied for the 34th place after two rounds with a level-par aggregate, shot a blistering round of eight-under 64, making ten birdies on his first 15 holes, before slowing down with two bogies in his last three holes.

Also moving up was Asian PGA tour regular Gerry Norquist, who shot six-under 66 to rise to the joint 18th position.