By Chia Han Keong

FOR three rounds, India's Jeev Milkha Singh lurked behind the leaders at the Barclays Singapore Open, waiting to pounce.

Yesterday, in the final round, the golfer made his move, charging up the leaderboard with four birdies in his first 10 holes.

Yet, it was during the tension- filled final eight holes that the 36-year-old displayed poise under immense pressure to win the Open by a single stroke.

He was being chased by not one, but two three-time Majors winners: Ireland's Padraig Harrington and South Africa's Ernie Els.

Both stars tried their very best to wrest the top spot away from the Indian, but he would not waver.

He said: "Thankfully, the golfing gods were with me today.

"Obviously, my strong start helped me to be in contention. But the final holes were also crucial, as I was fighting to stay with my routine. Thankfully, it turned out right in the end."

Indeed, with the winner's cheque of US$792,500 (S$1.2 million), he has sealed the top spot in the Asian Tour's Order of Merit, and became the first player to earn more than US$1 million in the Asian Tour, totalling US$1,405,606.69 this season.

He started in the same flight as Harrington, both at five-under, and stayed tied after nine holes. Both of them had snared three birdies by then.

It became a nail-biting duel after that. Jeev Milkha edged ahead by a stroke after 10 holes, but a bogey at 12th evened the score again.

The critical point came at 16th, when Harrington's second shot rolled off the green and into the water hazard.

The Irishman took a double bogey - luckily for Jeev Milkha, who had a bogey.

Meanwhile, Els made his move at last, making his first birdie of the round to tie with Harrington, a stroke behind Jeev Milkha.

The trio made par on 17th, so it was up to the par-five 18th to decide the championship.

Jeev Milkha found a bunker with his first shot, laid off his second too far from the green but hit a wonderful approach shot about 15 feet (4.6m) from the hole.

Harrington found the edge of the green in two shots, but hit his eagle attempt too softly.

Jeev Milkha then missed his own birdie attempt, giving the Irishman a chance to draw level and force a play-off.

Harrington missed. One down, one more Majors winner to go.

Els, on the next flight, found bunker on his second shot. His third landed about 20 feet from the pin.

Needing to hole the birdie attempt to tie with Jeev Milkha, his shot looked good but stopped right at the lip of the cup, as the crowd groaned and Els threw his putter in disgust.

Said the South African: "It shows that golf is just a game of inches. I'm just disappointed.

"The gods were not with me."

Dismal final flight

THEY were the leaders yesterday morning. By evening, they had dropped out of the top five.

The top-three golfers after the completion of the third round - Thailand's Chapchai Nirat, Singapore's Lam Chih Bing (left) and world No. 3 Phil Mickelson - were grouped in the final round's last flight that teed off at 11.50am.

It turned out to be a nightmarish round for the trio, as they stumbled into bogey after bogey to find themselves out of contention by the time they reached Hole Nine.

Chapchai, who held a three-shot lead at 10-under 203 after three rounds, struggled with six bogeys and a double bogey en route to a dismal seven-over 78.

American Mickelson, who made a decent charge after a poor opening round of 73 to start the final round at six-under, struck a disastrous triple-bogey eight at Hole Seven, twice finding the water hazard.

He finished the round at four-over 75. Lam was the worst-hit of the trio. Starting the final round in second place at seven-under, he three-putted at Hole Two to begin a terrible run of eight bogeys and a double bogey.

By the time he completed the round at eight-over 79, he could only sigh and shake his head.

He said after the round: "The first two bogeys threw me off completely, and my putting failed me today.

"I'm disappointed, but I did put in three good rounds. It's a positive progress."

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