McDowell wins Ballantine's Championships

Jeev Milkha Singh again faltered at the finish losing in the third play-off hole to Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell in the inaugural Ballantine's Championships on Sunday.

At one stage Jeev led McDowell by three shots, but the latter came back into reckoning with an eagle on the tenth. Then Jeev had a terrible tee shot on 17th to bogey the hole and that saw them finish in a tie, leading to a play-off.

This was the second runner-up finish for Jeev, who was also second at the Astro Enjoy Indonesia Open four weeks ago.

Jeev and McDowell, who shared the lead overnight, shot six-under 66 to finish the regulation 72 holes in 24-under 264 sending the clash in a play-off. After halving two play-off holes, Jeev missed a short putt and lost as McDowell picked his first title in four years.

Jyoti Randhawa (67) finished tied 11th while Gaurav Ghei (72) was 57th.

It was the fifth European Tour in succession in which Indians had at least one player in top five. Indians have won two events, finished second in two and took the fifth spot in one event.