Jeev Milkha Singh (1971 – present)

The government of India awarded him the prestigious Padma Shri award, India’s fourth highest civilian award in 2007.

Life of Jeev Milkha Singh:

Jeev Milkha Singh was born on 15th December 1971 in Chandigarh to Indian Olympic athlete Milkha Singh and former captain of the Indian women’s volleyball team Nirmal Kaur. 

He attended Abilene Christian University in the United States and obtained a degree in business and international studies in the year 1996. Jeev Milkha Singh is married to Kudrat and lives in Chandigarh. The couple has a son by the name Harjai.

Sports Career of Jeev Milkha Singh:

Jeev Milkha Singh won the NCAA Division II Individual Golf Championship in the year 1993. He also won a number of amateur tournaments in the United States. He turned professional in the year 1993.

His first professional win came in the year 1993 in the 1993 Southern Oklahoma State Open, which is a minor local event. However, Singh played mainly in Asia where he was a regular winner in the mid 1990s. In the year 1997, he finished seventh in the European Tour qualifying school and joined the tour in the following year.

Singh’s best season was in Europe until 2006 was in the year 1999 when he came 50th in the Order of Merit. Singh struggled with injury in the early years but in April 2006, he won the Volvo China Open thus becoming the second Indian player to win on the European tour after Arjun Atwal. 

He also won the season ending Volvo Masters which raised him to a final position of 16th on the Order of Merit. Singh 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 it to the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings. 

He also became the first Indian golfer to participate in the Masters Tournament in the year 2007. In August 2008, Jeev Milkha Singh achieved the highest ranking for an Indian in any major event in the 2008 PGA Championship which was held in Oakland Hills, Singh finished at T9 which made him arguably India’s best golfer ever.

Singh also finished the 2008 European Tour season in the 12th ranking on the Order of Merit and after winning the Barclays Singapore Open he won his second Order of Merit title on the Asian tour. In the year 2009, he finished the WGC-CA Championship in the fourth place after leading round one. 

He played on the nationwide tour in the year 2003. Singh also played the PGA Tour from 2007 to 2010 where his best finish was the 4th place in the 2009 WGC-CA Championship. 

On 15th July 2012, Jeev Milkha Singh beat Francesco Molinari in a sudden death playoff to win the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open just week before the 2012 Open Championship. 

The win secured him a spot in the 2012 Open Championship in the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club as a result of finishing as the highest non-qualifier in the event. 

The win was Singh’s fourth career victory on the European Tour and moved him ahead of Arjun Atwal, thus making him the most successful Indian golfer in the European Tour history.