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Singh's well-ordered world was turned upside down with one swing, on the 17th hole of the second round at the 2000 Johnnie Walker Classic. His ball was hard against the lip of a bunker, and in trying to slash it out, he shredded the ligaments in his right wrist. "I still saved par," Singh says proudly, and he soldiered on for two more months, the wrist hurting more and more with every swing. Finally a doctor insisted that he wear a cast for 12 weeks. The ligaments healed, but Singh's psyche had been badly damaged.
When he returned to action, he was afraid to turn the club over at impact. This begat a case of the driver yips, forcing Singh to tee off with his three-wood, a huge disadvantage for a player who was not a big hitter to begin with.
Singh survived with a fabulous short game-he holds the European tour record for fewest putts over four rounds, having taken only 94 at the 2001 Dubai Desert Classic-but he began tweaking his swing to accommodate his lack of confidence in his wrist. The result is among the most unorthodox swings in pro golf: a halting shoulder turn, the club laid off at the top and a downswing that is a pronounced outside-in swipe.
In the years after the wrist injury Singh had a series of setbacks. He had always been intrigued with the idea of playing in the U.S., and at the 2002 PGA Tour Q school he was in great shape to get his card through five rounds. But Singh unraveled on the final day, shooting 77 when even par would have landed him on the Tour. (He settled for the Nationwide in '03, playing 11 tournaments, making six cuts and earning $24,628.)
"Man, I'm telling you, there have been so many lows," he says. "I wanted to quit so many times. So many times in the past I felt fear on the course, but it is best not to talk about such things."
Beginning in 2004 Singh made the Japanese tour his home base. At the '05 Okinawa Open he took a four-shot lead into the final round but again came undone on Sunday, shooting a 73 and bogeying the last to finish a shot behind Kiyoshi Miyazato.
"That was the key moment for me," Singh says. "That night I was so upset, I resolved to completely change my approach. I had become obsessed with the results and was not paying enough attention to the process of playing good golf. As soon as I stopped caring about the results, that's when everything changed. Only by letting it all go has it come back to me."
Singh's new equanimity was tested at last year's China Open, when he was a shot off the lead through three rounds. "I tried reverse psychology on Sunday," he says. "I told myself, You are not going to win. This is another tournament you have given away.'"
A bogey on the 1st hole made him more relaxed. A burst of birdies followed, and he was flawless down the stretch, pulling out an emotional one-stroke victory, his first since the 1999 Lexus International. "That win changed everything for me," Singh says. "My technique hasn't changed in years. The difference is that now I have the belief. In this game, belief is everything."
He rode that confidence for the rest of the year. When Singh finally ran out of tournaments, he had risen to 37th in the World Ranking, from 367th a year earlier. He had topped the Asian tour Order of Merit, finished third on the Japanese money list and 16th in Europe, and had banked more than $2.7 million.
for all of Singh's success, in the U.S. he remains a mystery to all but the most sleepless Golf Channel viewers. This year's majors will be Jeev's chance to make a name for himself, and he hopes to emulate the success of another gritty ball-control player with a homemade swing. Says Chopra, "The best way to describe Jeev is as an Indian Jim Furyk. It can be very uncomfortable to look at [Singh's] swing, but Jeev is the most mentally strong player I've ever been around."
Singh is hoping to maximize his time in America, playing the majors, the World Golf Championships (in the Match Play he lost 3 and 2 in the first round to Stewart Cink) and any other tournaments that will have him. Last year's success earned Singh a five-year exemption in Europe and Asia, and three years in Japan. "Now I can have a free go at the U.S.," he says.
Singh owns a home in Chandigarh but last year didn't see it from March to December, spending every night in between in a hotel. Yet Singh's wanderlust is finally beginning to cool; he is eyeing a piece of property on the Monterey Peninsula and would love to build a house there to serve as his U.S. base. He also has a serious girlfriend, Kudrat Brar, a former human-resources manager; they grew up on the same street and, after having fallen out of touch, fell in love a few years ago. "Jeev's parents are dying for him to get married, but he has always put them off by saying he wouldn't settle down until he made it to the U.S. tour," says Amrintinder Singh. "So now I kid him that as good as he's playing, he better start preparing for the wedding."
Even if Singh starts planting roots, his influence will still be felt. A handful of Indian touring pros have begun asserting themselves. On the Asian tour the Indians are collectively known as the Curry Cartel, and "I like to say we're spicy, too," says Singh, laughing. Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Ranhawa have each topped the Asian tour money list in the last four years, and in 2005 Shiv Kapur was the tour's rookie of the year. Atwal and Chopra are regulars in America, and Kapur is playing in Europe. "I know my success is encouraging other Indians to try golf," says Singh, who last year was awarded the Padma Shri-the Indian equivalent of being knighted-48 years after his father earned the same honor. "It is convincing parents that golf can be a way a of life. I'm very proud of that."
Last year Singh played in the Pakistan Open, a particularly freighted appearance given that his paternal grandparents were butchered in the 1947 partition riots. "No one in my family had ever set foot in Pakistan," says Singh. "There was a lot of fear and apprehension about me going." He went and finished second. Along the way the boisterous crowds embraced him. "What I have learned through the years of traveling is that you can't be afraid to try anything," says Singh. "Golf can give you many wonderful new experiences, if you are open to them."
