Muscle injury forces Jeev to pull out of British Open

TURNBERRY - A nagging muscle injury forced Jeev Milkha Singh to take the painful decision of pulling out of the British Open at Turnberry Golf Course here Tuesday.

The 38-year-old Indian, who has played 10 Majors in his career and made the cut in six of them including a top-10 at PGA Championships last year, came to Turnberry hoping he had recovered from the inter-costal muscle injury which has dogged him since the European Open almost two months ago.

But after hitting balls Monday and Tuesday, Jeev found that he was still way off full fitness.

And Tuesday he decided that he was not “upto the desired fitness levels” and therefore took the “agonising decision” to pull out of the year’s third Major.

“It is always a tough call, but one that had to be taken. Last month when I struggled at the US Open in Bethpage, I had decided that henceforth, I would not tee up in a less than 100 per cent fit state in a Major. I am sticking to it. There is no point in aggravating the injury,” Jeev said.

“I am going to rest and then try and get fit for the WGC and the PGA Championships,” added Jeev, who was paired with South African Rory Sabbatini and Englishman Anthony Wall.

Another Indian, Gaganjeet Bhullar was looking confident of making his Major debut. The 20-year-old Indian has made rapid strides since he turned professional at the end of 2006 after winning a team silver at the Asian Games in Doha.

“I am looking forward to my first Major. This was the Major I always dreamt of since I was young. I want to make my first visit a memorable one,” Bhullar said.