Jeev Milkha Singh | |
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— Golfer — | |
Singh at the 2009 Omega European Masters
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Personal information | |
Full name | Jeev Milkha Singh |
Born |
Chandigarh, India |
15 December 1971
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st) |
Nationality | India |
Residence | Chandigarh, India |
Spouse | Kudrat (m. 2008) |
Children | Harjai (b. 2010) |
Career | |
College | Abilene Christian University |
Turned professional | 1993 |
Current tour(s) | Asian Tour |
Former tour(s) |
European Tour PGA 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 |
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Masters Tournament | T25: 2008 |
U.S. Open | T36: 2007 |
The Open Championship | T69: 2012 |
PGA Championship | T9: 2008 |
Achievements and awards | |
Arjuna Award | 1999 |
Padma Shri | 2007 |
Asian Tour Order of Merit |
2006, 2008 |
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.
Singh was born in Chandigarh, India to Indian Olympic athlete Milkha Singh and Nirmal Kaur, former captain of the Indian women's volleyball team. Singh attended Abilene Christian University in the United States, obtaining a degree in business and international studies in 1996.
Singh won the NCAA Division II individual golf championship in 1993 in addition to a number of amateur tournaments in the U.S.
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.
He became the third golfer to receive Arjuna Award in 1999.
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. In 2007 he became the first Indian golfer to participate in the Masters Tournament. 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.