Jeev tied 10th after Rd 1 at Nippon Series JT Cup

Jeev Milkha Singhs title defence got off to a modest start with the Indian turning in one-over 71 to lie two shots off the lead at tied 10th in the season-ending Golf Nippon Series JT Cup in Tokyo.

Jeev Milkha Singhs title defence got off to a modest start with the Indian turning in one-over 71 to lie two shots off the lead at tied 10th in the season-ending Golf Nippon Series JT Cup here today.

Jeev returned to the Yomiuri Country Club to defend the title he had won last year in extraordinary circumstances.

Jeev had decided to withdraw after his wife,Kudrat,had delivered a stillborn baby here. Kudrat,however,insisted on playing and Jeev,reluctantly joining the field,went on to win the title.

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Jeev began with a birdie but the double bogey on the fourth hole left him one-over at the turn. On his way back,Jeev bogeyed the 11th as well to go two-over before reducing the damage with the 16th hole birdie to settle for 71.

Meanwhile,it was a four-way tie at the top with Masaya Tomida,Kyung-Tae Kim,Brendan Jones and Hiroyuki Fujita sharing the lead at one-under 69.

The quartet were followed from one stroke behind by a group of five including Katsumasa Miyamoto,Shigeki Maruyama,Azuma Yano,Toshinori Muto and Daisuke Maruyama.