Jeev finishes 6th after level-par last round

Tokyo:

Jeev Milkha Singh's title defence did not come to fruition and the Indian ace signed off with an even-par 70 to finish sixth in the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup here on Sunday.

Going into the final round two strokes off the lead, Jeev needed something special to defend the title he had won in extraordinary circumstances last year but all he managed was a level-par 70 that left him five-under 275 at the lone sixth place.

Shigeki Maruyama (271) fired a six-under 64 to win the title at nine-under 271.

Jeev pocketed 4,768,291 yen for his exploits.

Last year, Jeev had decided to withdraw from the event after his wife had delivered a stillborn baby but then opted to play and eventually won the title.

Jeev looked in control in his front nine where the sixth hole birdie punctuated his strong par shots.

Jeev had a disastrous bogey-bogey start to his back nine that pushed him on the backfoot and he did manage to sign off with a level-par courtesy the 16th hole birdie but his title defence was over by then.

After failing to retain his Asian tour card playing rights, Ghei said it was disappointing and he just could not play well enough.

"I just didn't play well the last two days. That's the way it is I guess. I just didn't make any putts. I made three bogeys and didn't make any putts. It's disappointing," said Ghei, a three-time Asian Tour winner.

Ghei will now have to rely on his career earnings status for playing rights in 2010.