Jeev betters Atwal with 4th European tour win

Jeev Milka Singh is back to his best! The Indian ended a title drought of four years and 37 days on Sunday to beat Italy's Francesco Molinari in a play-off to claim the Scottish Open.

His last European Tour win came at the Bank Austria Golf Open in 2008. With his latest triumph, the 40-year-old has overtaken Arjun Atwal as the Indian with the most number of wins on the European Tour. Atwal, who plies his trade on the PGA Tour in the United States, has won three.

Jeev, the son of legendary athlete Milkha Singh, has been the face of Indian golf for many years now. He turned pro in 1993 but it took him almost 13 years to bag his first European Tour title when he won the Volvo China Open in 2006. Later that year he won another, this time at the Volvo Masters. With two major triumphs in a year, he became the first Indian to break into the top 100.

The 40-year-old beat Francesco Molinari in a play-off to claim the Scottish Open on Sunday.

"It's a moment of pride for me and India and I hope many more Indians are encouraged to take up golf and establish India on the international circuit," said a proud father Milkha Singh.

Jeev, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2007, now has 20 international titles to his name, six of which have come on the Asian Tour, four on the tour of Japan and six other world-wide including India, Malaysia, Thailand and Korea. He is the highest-ranked Indian in the world at 192 and is now expected to break back into the top 100 after the win in Scotland.

Jeev’s triumph has brought one more good news for India: he now has qualified for the British Open starting next week at the Royal Lytham and St. Annes. He is India's sole representative at the hallowed event.

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