Jeev tied 14th after strong opening round in TPC

Ponte Vedra Beach:

The ninth hole bogey was the lone blot in an otherwise impeccable card as Jeev Milkha Singh blasted a four-under 68 to lie tied 14th after the opening round of The Players Championship golf tournament.

Playing his back nine first, Jeev birdied the 13th, 16th and 18th holes to lie three-under at the turn and back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh put him at five-under.

The Indian, however, did not go completely unscathed and bogeyed his final hole, the par-five ninth, after hitting a tree.

"I'm pretty happy with 68 today. I hit the ball really well, holed a few putts, also. But could have been much better," Jeev said.

The final hole bogey, however, left a bad taste in mouth said Jeev.

"Disappointing finish with a bogey on the last, especially a par-5. I didn't really have a good birdie chance, but I went for it," he said.

Jeev reckoned he got the perfect start to the tournament called 'the fifth major' but was cautious not to get overwhelmed.

"I'm not going to get ahead of myself. I'm just going to go out there, follow my process and play every day and see what comes my way," he said.

Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra, however, struggled at TPC Sawgrass and managed a three-over 75 to lie tied 123rd with slim hopes of making the cut in the USD 9.5 million PGA Tour event.

American Ben Crane fired a seven-under 65 to outshine his illustrious peers and grab a one-shot lead over the John Mallinger, Richard S Johnson and Alex Cejka trio.