The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Randhawa finishes tied ninth; Jeev joint 25th

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 06, 2007
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Sport - Golf

Randhawa finishes tied ninth; Jeev joint 25th

Sotogrande (Spain): Jyoti Randhawa settled for the tied ninth place with a final round of three-over 74, while Jeev Milkha Singh’s one-year rein as the Volvo Masters golf champion came to an end with the Indian finishing tied 25th in the tournament.

After rounds of 73 and 70, Randhawa looked primed for a top-five finish, but once he reached the half-way stage, things did not go his way and he carded back-to-back 74s to total seven-over 291 to share the ninth spot with Thomas Bjorn and pocket €84,800.

Impressive

Jeev was less impressive and he finished the way he had begun, with a round of five-over 76. He tallied 16-over 300 to get richer by €38,800.

Average round

Randhawa had an average round which had three bogeys, two birdies and a double bogey as well. Randhawa’s putting was not up to the mark and he needed 31 putts — his highest this week — that included couple of three putts.

For Jeev, memories of his disastrous first round came to haunt him again as he dropped six bogeys, double bogeyed the par-three 12th and had only three birdies to show.

Rose pips Dyson

Meanwhile, Englishman Justin Rose pipped Simon Dyson in a three-way play-off when he holed his 15-foot right to left putt in the second extra hole.

In the first extra hole, Rose, Symon and Soren Kjeldsen — having tallied 283 after four rounds — found the right-hand side of the fairway from the tee.

Kjeldsen and Dyson hit the front of the green with their second shots, while Rose put his second pin high 20 feet to the right. All players two putted for par.

In the second hole, Dyson and Rose hit irons into the middle of the fairway on this dog-leg right hole, while Kjeldsen played a fairway wood which found an excellent lie in the left semi-rough. All the second shots finished below the hole.

Kjeldsen rolled his putt stone dead then Rose holed his 15 foot putt, leaving Dyson needing to hole from slightly nearer to continue the play-off. Dyson’s putt slipped by the hole and Rose was crowned Volvo Masters champion.

Atwal retains Nationwide Tour card

At Lakeside (USA), Arjun Atwal barely managed to retain his Nationwide Tour card with a tied 44th finish in the Nationwide Tour championship at Barona Creek, but going through the Qualifying School remains his lone option to secure his 2008 PGA Tour card.

Atwal signed off with a final round of three-under 68 to tally six-under 278 and his earning of $101,824 placed him 60th in the money list after the season finale.

The top 25 in the list would be awarded the PGA Tour card for the next year, while those in 26-60 bracket retain their Nationwide Tour card.

Richard Johnson won the event with an impressive total of 20-under 264, one stroke ahead of Michael Letzig who carded 66 in the final round. — PTI

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