Jeev Milkha Singh, the 2008 Singapore Open champion, revealed that his victory almost never happened due to a potential disqualification in the first round, saved only by a vigilant referee watching a broadcast from Thailand.
A narrow escape
During a media interaction at the International Series event in Singapore, Singh, now 54, recounted the incident. On the fourth hole of the first round at the Serapong course, he played a preferred lie but accidentally moved the ball after placing it. Unaware of the infraction, he continued. Rain halted play late in the round, and overnight, a referee reviewing footage spotted the error and alerted the tournament director not to let Singh sign his card after finishing the round the next day.
“If I had signed, I would have been disqualified,” Singh said. Instead, he received a one-shot penalty, signed for a 73, and went on to win the tournament, holding off major champions Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington.
Gratitude and memory
Singh met the official the following week. “I told him I owed him dinner. At least a beer,” he recalled with wonder. “That was 18 years ago.” He credited the intervention to “the golfing gods” or that referee.
Gaganjeet Bhullar, sitting alongside, shared his memory of that day. Then 20 years old, Bhullar was finishing his round on the ninth hole while Singh holed a putt on the 18th to secure victory. “I remember it clearly,” Bhullar said. Singh added, “There were all four Major winners there.”
Current form
Singh, who has been competing on the Japan Seniors Tour, has shown consistent form with a T-fourth and T-11th finish in the last two weeks, and a made cut at IS Japan in early April. He plans to play 30 weeks this year. “But the body has to stay with me,” he said, noting that he had been cramping during the Singapore heat, likely due to adapting from golf carts on senior tours.
