By IANS,
Paris : Jeev Milkha Singh, desperately chasing a British Open berth, tees off at the star-studded Open de France ALSTOM in the august company of 2007 US Open champion, Argnetine Angel Cabrera, and Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, winner of the BMW Asian Open his season.
He will have for company three other Indians, Jyoti Randhawa, Shiv Kapur and S.S.P. Chowrasia, at the Le Golf National on the outskirts of Paris in an event which carries a whopping four million euros as the prize fund.
Jeev, who won the Bank Austria Open two weeks back, is hoping for some good results which will earn him a last-minute berth into the British Open next month. “I know I am playing well as it showed in Austria,” said Jeev. “I am just focusing on my processes and not thinking about what I am to achieve in terms of results. Every time I focus and follow the routine, things fall in place by themselves.”
Jeev is hoping to grab one of the two berths available via the mini Order of Merit for events held from the Italian Open to the French Open. A good result here will catapult him from fourth to first or second and into the Open. Otherwise, he will hope to finish in top-five at the European or Scottish Open, which precede the British Open.
Also in the field will be Jyoti Randhawa, who is looking for the kind of results which made him a very hot golfer at the start of the season. Other Indians are Emaar-MGF winner, S.S.P. Chowrasia and Shiv Kapur, both of whom have struggled last few weeks in Europe.
Lee Westwood, managed by International Sports Management the same company which also manages Jeev and Kapur, will be looking to carry on from the showing that saw him finish third at the US Open Championship.
Westwood led the US Open at Torrey Pines with nine holes to play and had a putt on the final green to tie with Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate. That putt slipped by the hole, leaving Woods and Mediate to continue the battle in a play-off with Woods eventually claiming his 14th Major Championship.
Swede Robert Karlsson, who finished joint fourth at US Open, is also back looking to finally make his winning breakthrough after five successive top four finishes, while the presence of Spain’s Miguel Angel Jiménez, the current European Tour Number One, ensures the top three challengers on The European Tour Order of Merit – and three players from the top six at the US Open – are in action at Le Golf National competing for a share of the four million euro prize fund.
The field also includes Germany’s Martin Kaymer, who became the first German to win the BMW International Open on Sunday, from the World’s Top 50. Another Englishman Graeme Storm will be defending his maiden title following his stunning victory 12 months ago.