Gurgaon, Feb 10 (IANS) Jeev Milkha Singh, who became a father only last month wants to make it a double celebration at this week’s inaugural euros 1.5 million Avantha Masters golf.
Jeev, who has been Asian Tour number one in 2006 and 2008, believes his son will give him the added motivation when he plays in front of the home crowd at the DLF Golf and Country Club Feb 11-14.

“The arrival of my son has been the biggest event in my life. I am very excited and I want to win it for him,” said Jeev, who is India’s highest-ranked player.

One of Asia’s most successful players, Jeev has wins on the Asian, Japan and European Tours, but each one of them has come outside India. “This is as good a time as any to set that record straight,” said Jeev. “I am working together with my coach (Amritinder Singh) this week and I am feeling good about my form. It’s always nice to win at home and I’ll go out there and do my best.”

“We have got all of our Indian boys playing here this week and we could not ask for a better field. We usually play well at home and I hope we’ll do well again,” added Jeev.

“My short game is in great shape at the moment and I’m now focusing on my distance control.”

“I would like to hit the ball to a precise distance but that has not been happening off late as I have been falling short or overshooting my target by five to ten yards. This difference of five to ten yards can have a great impact on my game. Therefore, I am trying to work on this area,” said Jeev.

Jeev, who has always laid a lot of emphasis on good course management, has charted out his strategy for the week as he looks to post a win in India after a gap of 15 years.

He said: “The holes that stand out on this course are number 9, 14 and 17. These holes look easy but are actually very tricky. It’s not easy to make birdies on these three holes and the professionals should approach these holes with a lot of caution.”

The Chandigarh golfer expects the Indian contingent to spring a few surprises this week as the depth of Indian professional golf seems to grow with each passing season.

“I am looking forward to an exciting week since the Indian challenge is very strong. It is a known fact that Indian players always perform well on home turf, no matter how strong the field.

“It is fantastic to see the confidence of our young players such as Gaganjeeet Bhullar, Anirban Lahiri and Himmat Singh Rai. They are competing against the best in the world at a very young age. When I look back on my career, I realize that I had the game when I was that young but unfortunately did not get as many opportunities to compete at the top level.”