Singh hopes for Bay Hill breakthrough

MIAMI // Energised after producing a career-best finish on the PGA Tour earlier this month, India's Jeev Milkha Singh has great expectations for this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando. Singh has long targeted a maiden victory in the United States and he contended strongly for the elite WGC-CA Championship at Doral two weeks ago before placing fourth. "I made a lot of birdies that week and the depth of the field there made me feel good," the 37-year-old from Chandigarh said at the Bay Hill Club on Tuesday.

"I really like that golf course, it suits my game and finishing fourth gave me a lot of confidence. "I think the main confidence builder was the PGA Championship last year, where I had my first top 10," he added, referring to his tie for ninth in the final major of 2008. "I thought that after that I could have more top 10s. Doral definitely built up on that." One of golf's globe-trotters who enjoys playing on all the leading tours around the world, Singh likes the look of the par-70 layout at Bay Hill.

"I've never seen the greens that good," he said. "It's a golf course which requires everything. It's a good test and it's playing fantastic. I'm looking forward to this week." Singh won four events around the world last year before ending the most successful campaign of his career by becoming the Asian Tour's number one player. Having enjoyed similar success in 2006 before suffering a let-down the following year, he has taken great delight in his bright start to this season.

"(In 2007) I got more result-orientated than anything else and I think that was the main reason that the performance wasn't up to the mark. "It's tough for a golfer to beat what he does every time. You usually can just hang in there and try your best, and that's what I was trying to do. Singh became the first man on the Asian Tour to earn more than US$1 million (Dh3.6m) in a season. "Last year, everything came together," he added. "I personally feel that was the best year of my career so far.

"I've won on nearly every Tour in the world that I've played but I haven't won in the US. I would really like to win here, too." *Reuters