Jeev Milkha Singh

For his father, the athlete also known as the "Flying Sikh", see Milkha Singh.

Jeev Milkha Singh (born 15 December 1971) is an Indian professional golfer who became the first player from India to join the European Tour in 1998. He has won four events on the European Tour, becoming the most successful Indian on tour. He was the first Indian golfer to break into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking in October 2006. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of Padma Shri in 2007. He is also the recipient of 1999 Arjuna Award.^[2][3]

Jeev Milkha Singh Rathore
Singh at the 2009 Omega European Masters
Personal information
Born	(1971-12-15) 15 December 1971 (age 53)
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Sporting nationality	India
Residence	Chandigarh, India
Spouse	Sakshi ​ (m. 2008)​
Children	1
Career
College	Abilene Christian University
Turned professional	1993
Current tour(s)	European Senior Tour Asian Tour
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour Japan Golf Tour
Professional wins	20
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	4
Japan Golf Tour	4
Asian Tour	6
Other	7
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	T25: 2008
PGA Championship	T9: 2008
U.S. Open	T36: 2007
The Open Championship	T69: 2012
Achievements and awards
Arjuna Award 1999 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner 2006, 2008 Asian Tour Players' Player of the Year 2006, 2008 Padma Shri 2007

Early life

Singh was born on 15 December 1971^[1] to Indian Olympic athlete Milkha Singh and Nirmal Saini, former captain of the Indian women's volleyball team.^[4] Singh attended Bishop Cotton School in Shimla and later went to Abilene Christian University in the United States, obtaining a degree in business and international studies^[5] in 1996.^[6]

Singh won the NCAA Division II individual golf championship in 1993 in addition to a number of amateur tournaments in the U.S.^{[citation needed]}

Professional career

Singh turned professional in 1993 and his first professional win was at the 1993 Southern Oklahoma State Open, a minor local event. He played mainly in Asia, where he was a regular winner in the mid-1990s. In 1997 he finished seventh at the European Tour qualifying school, and joined the tour the following year.^{[citation needed]}

He became the third golfer to receive Arjuna Award in 1999.^[7]

His best season in Europe until 2006 was in 1999, when he came 50th on the Order of Merit. He struggled with injury in the early years of the new millennium. In April 2006 he won the Volvo China Open, becoming the second Indian player to win on the European Tour after Arjun Atwal. He also won the season ending Volvo Masters, which elevated him to a final position of 16th on the Order of Merit. He finished 2006 as the winner of the Asian Tour Order of Merit and capped his season with a pair of back to back wins in Japan to become the first Indian to make the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.^[8] In 2007 he became the first Indian golfer to participate in the Masters Tournament.^[9] In August 2008, Singh achieved the highest ranking for an Indian in any major event at the 2008 PGA Championship in Oakland Hills, finishing at T9, making him arguably India's best golfer ever.^{[citation needed]}

Singh finished the 2008 European Tour season ranked 12th on the Order of Merit, and after winning the Barclays Singapore Open won his second Order of Merit title on the Asian Tour.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, Singh finished the WGC-CA Championship in fourth place, after leading round one.^{[citation needed]}

Singh played on the Nationwide Tour in 2003. He played on the PGA Tour from 2007 to 2010, where his best finish was 4th place at the 2009 WGC-CA Championship.^{[citation needed]}

Singh received India's fourth highest civil honour, the Padma Shri, in 2007.^[10]

On 15 July 2012, Singh beat Francesco Molinari in a sudden-death playoff to win the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, the week before the 2012 Open Championship.^[11] The win secured Singh a spot in the 2012 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club as a result of finishing as the highest non-qualifier at the event. The win was also Singh's fourth career victory on the European Tour and moved him ahead of Arjun Atwal, making him the most successful Indian golfer in European Tour history.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Singh lives in Chandigarh with wife Kudrat and their son.^[1]

Amateur wins

• 1993 NCAA Division II Individual Championship

Professional wins (20)

European Tour wins (4)

Legend
Tour Championships (1)
Other European Tour (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	16 Apr 2006	Volvo China Open1	72-69-67-70=278	−10	1 stroke	Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño
2	29 Oct 2006	Volvo Masters	71-71-68-72=282	−2	1 stroke	Luke Donald, Sergio García, Pádraig Harrington
3	8 Jun 2008	Bank Austria GolfOpen	64-63-71=198*	−15	1 stroke	Simon Wakefield
4	15 Jul 2012	Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open	66-70-68-67=271	−17	Playoff	Francesco Molinari

*Note: The 2008 Bank Austria GolfOpen was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.
¹Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2008	Ballantine's Championship	Graeme McDowell	Lost to birdie on third extra hole
2	2012	Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open	Francesco Molinari	Won with birdie on first extra hole

Japan Golf Tour wins (4)

Legend
Japan majors (2)
Other Japan Golf Tour (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	26 Nov 2006	Casio World Open	66-69-69-68=272	−16	2 strokes	David Smail
2	3 Dec 2006	Golf Nippon Series JT Cup	67-65-67-70=269	−11	1 stroke	Nobuhiro Masuda
3	27 Jul 2008	Nagashima Shigeo Invitational Sega Sammy Cup	67-74-68-66=275	−13	2 strokes	Sushi Ishigaki
4	7 Dec 2008	Golf Nippon Series JT Cup (2)	64-70-68-66=268	−12	2 strokes	Brendan Jones, David Smail, Taichi Teshima

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1999	Kirin Open	K. J. Choi	Lost to par on first extra hole

Asian Tour wins (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	17 Dec 1995	Philippine Classic	65-73-72-73=283	−5	1 stroke	Preecha Senaprom
2	21 Jan 1996 (1995 season)	Asian Matchplay Championship	3 and 1			Boonchu Ruangkit
3	1 Sep 1996	Philip Morris Asian Cup	66-66-65-65=262	−26	6 strokes	Kang Wook-soon
4	17 Oct 1999	Lexus International	69-69-65-72=275	−13	Playoff	Taimur Hussain, Zaw Moe
5	16 Apr 2006	Volvo China Open1	72-69-67-70=278	−10	1 stroke	Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño
6	16 Nov 2008	Barclays Singapore Open	73-68-67-69=277	−7	1 stroke	Ernie Els, Pádraig Harrington

¹Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

Asian Tour playoff record (1–3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1997	Ericsson Asia-Pacific Masters	Darren Cole	Lost to par on first extra hole
2	1998	Thailand Open	James Kingston	Lost to par on first extra hole
3	1999	Lexus International	Taimur Hussain, Zaw Moe	Won with birdie on third extra hole Hussain eliminated by par on first hole
4	2008	Ballantine's Championship	Graeme McDowell	Lost to birdie on third extra hole

Korean Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	11 Sep 1994	Shinhan Donghae Open	73-71-66-73=283	−5	4 strokes	Tom Pernice Jr.

Korean Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2008	Ballantine's Championship	Graeme McDowell	Lost to birdie on third extra hole

Other wins (6)

• 1993 (2) Southern Oklahoma State Open, Bukit Kiara Golf Championship (Malaysia)
• 1994 (1) Northern Indian Open
• 1995 (3) Thailand PGA Championship, Mahindra BPGC Open (India), Toyota Crown Open (Thailand)

Results in major championships

Singh at the 2008 Bank Austria GolfOpen

Tournament	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Masters Tournament						T37	T25	CUT
U.S. Open	T62				T59	T36		CUT							CUT
The Open Championship						CUT					T69
PGA Championship						CUT	T9	T67			CUT

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	2
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	3
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	2
Totals	0	0	0	0	1	2	14	8

• Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2002 U.S. Open – 2007 U.S. Open)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament	2009
The Players Championship	T64

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Match Play	R64		R64	R16
Championship	T28	T26	4
Invitational	T51		T64			T67
Champions			T33		T23	T46

  Top 10

  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

European Tour professional career summary

Year	Starts	Cuts Made	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top 10	Top 25	Earnings (€)	Money list rank
1994	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	n/a1
1995	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	4,200	n/a1
1996	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	6,944	n/a1
1997	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	8,689	n/a1
1998	22	11	0	0	0	1	5	83,823	104
1999	24	15	0	1	1	2	8	222,783	50
2000	13	5	0	0	0	2	3	68,199	145
2001	17	10	0	0	0	2	4	174,011	108
2002	20	8	0	0	0	1	2	83,347	152
2003	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1,773	n/a1
2004	5	3	0	0	0	1	1	28,817	n/a1
2005	7	5	0	0	0	1	2	42,845	n/a1
2006	17	11	2	0	0	4	8	1,173,177	16
2007	31	26	0	0	1	1	9	717,790	46
2008	26	20	1	2	0	8	15	1,218,209	12
2009	22	17	0	0	0	3	8	847,844	34
2010	15	10	0	0	0	2	7	393,449	74
2011	30	17	0	0	0	2	8	329,262	94
2012	25	19	1	0	0	2	6	926,062	32
2013	23	6	0	0	0	1	5	156,643	133
Total*	304	190	4	3	2	33	91	6,487,987	62

¹ Not a full Tour member in these years

• As of 2013 season

Team appearances

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy (representing India): 1988, 1992

Professional

• Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing India): 1996, 1999
• Dynasty Cup (representing Asia): 2003 (winners)
• Royal Trophy (representing Asia): 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 (winners)
• World Cup (representing India): 2008, 2009
• EurAsia Cup (representing Asia): 2016 (non-playing captain)

See also

• List of golfers with most Asian Tour wins