Jeev wants to stay afloat

January 23, 2014: The challenge is to stay afloat, believes India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, who is playing his second event of the season at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

India’s most successful golfer is struggling with nagging injuries for over a year, but he insists that not all is bad. He is happy with his game at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship last week, where he started off well and made the cut to play through weekend.

“I may not have had the most exciting of finishes, but I was happy to make the cut and compete on all four days for a couple of reasons. I have struggled on the golf course in the past and have missed the cut a few times, so it was encouraging that I was there over the weekend and working gainfully, Jeev wrote in his recent blog.

“Secondly, I was hurting badly in my right rotator cuff when I landed in the UAE and, while the medicines and the warmer weather here helped make it feel better, I was not sure if I would last the first couple of days. Thankfully, I not only played all four days, but also I did not hurt myself further and was happy with the way my game progressed,” he adds.

The four-time European Tour Champion battled through the pain to shoot a superb three-under-par round of 69 on the opening day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, but could not hold on till end to finish 60th on the leader board.

The 42-year-old, who was the first Indian to break into world golf’s top 100 in October 2006, has been battling a shoulder problem for some time now and was on pills to suppress the pain.

“I take six pills a day. I hope that 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-inflammatories and if that does not work I will go for PRP, which is a plasma enriched injection. Hopefully that should work.”