Jeev enjoys his historic Masters debut

India's Jeev Milkha Singh enjoyed his day in the sun at The Masters on Thursday, snatching the lead briefly during the first round before settling for a commendable level-par 72 at Augusta National.

Singh, the first Indian to qualify for the prestigious Major, shrugged aside early jitters to charge up the leaderboard on three-under at the turn before slipping back with four bogeys against another birdie as he ended the day in a share of 10th place, three behind co-leaders Justin Rose of England and American Brett Wetterich.

"I was excited with the way I played today. I was nervous on the first tee but I played pretty good on the front nine, shooting three under where I holed a lot of putts. On the back nine, I didn't make too many putts but that's okay. I'm pretty happy with my first round at Augusta National.

"You know, when I was growing up, I've always dreamt about playing in the Masters. And I've done that today," said Singh, the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit winner last season.

The Indian star, who broke into the world's top-50 last year with four tournament victories on three different Tours, holed a six-foot par putt on the opening hole to settle the butterflies in his stomach and then rolled in his first birdie of the day at the fourth hole from 10 feet.

From then on, Singh produced an array of wonderful shots to the approval of the Augusta galleries, chipping in for birdie on the sixth and then holing a succession of lengthy putts over the next three holes for another birdie and two big par saves on the seventh and ninth.

But with the winds swirling and flags tucked in corners, Singh dropped three bogeys over his next five holes at the turn before he stopped the bleeding with a birdie on 15. Another bogey on the last hole from the middle of the fairway failed to dampen his spirits.

"I didn't look at the leaderboard. The first time I looked at it was at the 11th and I saw that I was on the leaderboard and it felt pretty good," said Singh.

"You have to play smart golf on the greens here. You can't lose your patience, that's the key. Some of the pins, you just don't go for it. My plan is to go for the middle of the green all week," said Singh.

Singh was besieged by the American media following his historic round, who asked an assortment of questions ranging from comparisons with his famous father, who was an Olympic runner, to Fijian star Vijay Singh, a former Masters winner.

"My dad is better known," said Singh, whose last name confused a waitress who brought him a restaurant bill bearing the name of Vijay Singh earlier this week.

When asked if a win at the Masters would make him more famous than his father, he replied: "Yes, for sure. It would be big if I can win it. Some times, people think that I'm Vijay's brother or son."

April 5, 2007

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