By IANS
Chandigarh : Ace golfer Jeev Milkha Singh was Thursday handed over the Padma Shri conferred upon him by the central government earlier this year.
The award was handed over to him by Punjab Chief Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh at a function here.
Jeev, who has a busy international golfing schedule, was unable to attend the actual award function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in January this year as he was playing a tournament in the European circuit.
The golfer’s father and legendary athlete Milkha Singh – a Padma Shri awardee in 1958 – was present when Jeev was handed over the award here.
“I am thrilled to get this award. I am thankful to the government for considering me for this honour. It makes me feel so proud to be an Indian,” Jeev said after the ceremony.
Jeev had last year won the title in three major golf tournaments in the European circuit and in Japan. This catapulted him among the top 50 golfers in the world.
Hailing from Chandigarh, Jeev rubbed shoulders with leading golfers like Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh at the Augusta Masters this year in United States.