Jeev takes 3-shot lead at European Open

ASH - Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh strung together one of his finest rounds in the face of adverse conditions on a tough course to move into a three-shot lead at the end of the third round of the European Open.

The Indian ace, a multiple winner on the European Tour, Saturday shot a one-under 71 that included three birdies in last four holes and four-under over last six, to move to nine-under 208. He shared the lead with Frenchman Christian Cvar (70) at the London Golf Club here.

Shiv Kapur (75) slipped to tied 24th, while Jyoti Randhawa (79), second after first round, went down further to tied 47th.

On a day when the conditions forced the scores to go really high, Jeev, the World No. 39, and World No. 449 Cvar were the pick. It was a day of twists and turns and as many as nine players held at least a share of the lead during the third round.

They shot 70 and 71, respectively, Cvar making one of only two birdies all day on the 471 yard last. The 69 strong field were a cumulative 76 over par there.

Jeev, the joint halfway leader with Cvar’s compatriot Michael Lorenzo-Vera, played the last six holes in a quite brilliant four under. And he did that by playing bold golf.

“I just got aggressive,” Jeev said. “I made a good birdie putt on 15, and then I birdied 16, hit a great shot into 17, birdied that. I think a finish like that doesn’t happen too often, but I’ll take it.”

Talking of his final round, Jeev said: “Yes, it is going to be exciting. Christian is playing well. He played right in front of me. That’s great to see that; a lot of good players. I think the tournament is not over until the last putt is holed out, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Only two players, Cvar and Ricardo Gonzalez (73) had birdies on the 18th, while 19 others, including Jeev, had pars. The remaining 48 players shot bogeys or over and that included a quadruple bogey by Randhawa (79) and a triple by Kapur (75).

Rory McIlroy, golf’s gifted 20-year-old, is one of two 2009 European Tour winners in a share of third place - Alvaro Quiros is the other - along with England’s hottest golfing prospect Chris Wood.

McIlroy produced a superb four under par 68 to charge from 25th place overnight to joint third. And Wood, the 21 year old from Bristol who as an amateur finished a spectacular fifth in The Open Championship last July, made the exact same move as he continued his bid for a maiden European Tour win.