June 21, 2014. India’s Jeev Milkha Singh climbed 13 spots with a measured round of 69 to join John Kelly and Hao-Tong Li in a three way tie for 34th at the Irish Open. Jeev scored four birdies on two bogeys to put himself in contention for a top 20 finish. The 188th ranked golfer is at 3-under through three rounds with an overall score of 210.
The day though clearly belonged to Danny Willett, who catapulted himself to second on the leaderboard with a stellar 63, a course record that included an eagle and six birdies. The Brit is just one stroke off the pace, with Finland’s Mikko Ilonen retaining the overall lead at 12-under 201.
Milkha Singh started the day at 1-under, having made the cut despite slipping to a 73 in the second round on Friday. He soon courted trouble when he bogeyed the third to drop to even for the week. But the 42 year old from Chandigarh made birdies on the 4th and 9th as he began his march up the leaderboard.
The Fota Island Resort is a testing course, but with the Sun shining brighter as the day progressed, stroke making seemed to get progressively better through the round. After making the turn in 35, Milkha Singh added another birdie on the 10th to gain further momentum. A brief stutter on the 16th where he made bogey at the par-four hole, slipped him slightly back.
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But Jeev ended the day on a high, when he punched the air after making another fluent birdie at the 18th to end the day four strokes better than his second round finish. There is plenty at stake at this Irish Open – which is part of the qualifying series for the Open Championships to be held from July 17 at Royal Liverpool.
The Irish Open will allow three of the best finishers, who have not yet qualified to the Open to earn a ticket to the prestigious event. Ilonen has kept a one shot lead, despite a powerful surge by Millett, as he keeps himself in the hunt for a wire to wire victory tomorrow.
Reporting and Editing by Anand Datla
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