Kids Portal For Parents India Kids Network
Jeev Milkha Singh (born 15 December 1971) is the first Indian golfer to become a member of the European Tour. He is the highest ranked Indian golfer in the world and first broke into the top 100 in October 2006.
Early life
Singh was born in Chandigarh, India, the son of the Indian Olympic athlete Milkha Singh. His mother is Nirmal Kaur, former captain of the Indian women’s volleyball team. He lives in Chandigarh. Singh attended Abilene Christian University in the United States of America, obtaining a degree in business and international studies in 1996.
Career
Singh won the NCAA Division II individual golf championship in 1993. He also won a number of amateur tournaments in the U.S. His first professional win came at the 1993 Southern Oklahoma State Open, a minor local event, but 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 he joined the tour the following year.
His best season in Europe up 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 century but 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 Rankings. 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.
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.
In 2009, Singh finished the WGC-CA Championship in fourth place, after leading round one.
Singh received India’s fourth highest civil honour the Padma Shri in 2007.
