Golf: Jeev Milkha Singh battles wind and rain to finish 14th at Senior Open
Porthcawl (Wales), July 31
Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh suffered his worst round of the week at 8-over 79 but still managed to notch the best result of his Seniors career as he finished Tied 14th at the Senior Open.
Jeev, who slipped from Tied 11th to 14th, had just two birdies on the eighth and the tenth and gave away 10 bogeys as treacherous conditions dogged every player on the course.
With scoring being so difficult, not a single golfer could manage an even par round on the final day.
Alex Cejka of Germany battled the elements and a play-off going into the second extra hole to beat Pádraig Harrington to win the title.
Jeev had six bogeys on the front against just one birdie and four more bogeys on the back nine against one more birdie.
“This was the most difficult conditions I have ever played in. To finish a round and then be in Top-15 was good, but I felt I could have been a bit better,” said Jeev, who will divide his time between the Seniors Tour in Europe and Japan and also play some events on the regular Asian Tour.
“I am feeling good because I have been playing well and this performance in such conditions gives me even more confidence,” he added.
High winds, going over 40 miles per hours and rain to go with it made it extremely difficult as no player beat par for the second day running.
Cejka posted a five over 76 to finish on five-over par through 72 holes and joined Harrington, who posted a four over 75, in a play-off.
In the play-off on the 18th, both players birdied the first time as Harrington’s eagle putt slipped marginally by. In the next extra holes, the 52-year-old Cejka prevailed.
The Irishman went long with his second shot into the par five before leaving his chip short of the green, and Cejka was able to two-putt for birdie and become the second German winner of the Senior Claret Jug, after Bernhard Langer.
Cejka’s victory was his fourth triumph since turning 50, with three of those coming at Senior Majors, following his wins at The Tradition and the Senior PGA Championship in 2021.
Losing the play-off meant Harrington finished second in Europe’s only Senior Major Championship for the second year in succession, with fellow three-time Major winner Vijay Singh finishing third on seven over par.
Sweden’s Michael Jonzon finished fourth on eight over par, while England’s Phillip Archer and low Welshman Phillip Price shared fifth on nine over par.
Four-time Senior Open winner Bernhard Langer – who won at Royal Porthcawl in both 2014 and 2017 – shared seventh place with Australia’s Richard Green, Scotsman Euan McIntosh and Jerry Kelly, of the United States.
