January 17, 2014: He is determined to win back his form this year. The 42-year-old Jeev Milkha Singh’s superb three-under-par round of 69 on the opening day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Thursday did not come easy though.
Jeev has been struggling with a shoulder problem for some time now and was on pills to suppress the pain.
“I’m struggling with the injury. It’s a rotator cuff injury. I’m on strong medication and anti-inflammatory,” Jeev Milkha Singh told gulf news.
[highlight] He(Milkha Singh) would have watched me play today. He is a task master and still keeps telling me ‘you’ve got to work hard and there are no shortcuts [/highlight]
“I take six pills a day. Hopefully, if the inflammation comes down and I can hold out for three weeks, then I have a long time off after that.
“Surgery has been suggested, but I’m avoiding it. I think I won’t be the same after that. I’m taking anti-inflammatory (pills) and if that does not work I will go for PRP, which is a plasma enriched injection. Hopefully that should work.”
Jeev, who started on the back nine, hit a bogey on the 12th but then birdied four times on the 13th, 18th, third and sixth holes to finish the day tied for 10th place alongside nine others.
“I think my practice last week at Jumeirah Golf Estates [in Dubai] helped for sure. I didn’t touch a club for 20 days because of my injury. I think the short game was really good — putting, chipping. I could have improved on my driving but overall I’m happy,” said Jeev, whose previous best finish in Abu Dhabi is 24th.
Last year, he made just made six cuts from the 23 tournaments he played and he is now keen to make amends in 2014.
“It’s a new year and I have found where I was doing wrong and the injury also didn’t help. I was trying to make some changes in the swing but I think I’m on the right track and will be moving in the right direction,” he said.
Jeev has also drawn a lot of inspiration from his father, former sprinter Milkha Singh, whose 2013 sports biopic movie Bhag Milkha Bhag created waves among India’s youth.
“He would have watched me play today. He is a task master and still keeps telling me ‘you’ve got to work hard and there are no shortcuts’. He is a self-made man and wants me also to be that way.”
