Singh tunes up nicely for Open

Golf: Indian Jeev Milkha Singh won the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open after beating Italian Francesco Molinari in a…

Golf:Indian Jeev Milkha Singh won the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open after beating Italian Francesco Molinari in a play-off at Castle Stuart. but it was home hope Marc Warren who suffered the biggest disappointment having blown a three-shot lead over the closing stretch.

Singh, who also qualifies for The Open, overcame the brother of 2010 champion Edoardo with a 12-foot birdie putt at the first hole of their play-off, leaving a stunned Warren joint third with Swede Alex Noren one shot back.

The 31-year-old Glaswegian double-bogeyed the 15th, then bogeyed the next two for a one-under-par 71.

Singh had set an early target of 17 under with a 67 and overnight leader Molinari then forced sudden death by holing a nine-foot par putt on the last for a 72.

READ MORE

Warren, whose collapse also saw him miss out on a place at the Open, said: "I might need a little help to get to sleep tonight."

Asked if devastated was the right word to describe how he felt, the 31-year-old Rangers fan managed a smile and replied: "Not quite yet. I am sure it will.

"It's going to be disappointing watching The Open (an event the World Cup winner has failed to qualify for 10 times). I had it in my hands."

After playing the first 14 holes in a brilliant five under par in the first windy conditions of the tournament it all started to go horribly wrong on the 423-yard 15th.

He faced a 15-foot par putt after finding rough off the tee, but three-putted it for a double bogey six.

His next drive found gorse and after a penalty drop led to a bogey five, then he chipped far too strongly on the short 17th and let yet another shot go.

Suddenly he needed to birdie the par five last to be in the play-off, but into the wind he needed three to find the green and then missed from 25 feet.

Noren was equally gutted minutes earlier as he had taken a bogey six there to finish one behind Singh.

Molinari, who started with a course record 62 and led after the second and third rounds as well, required a closing birdie to win and so emulate his brother Edoardo. But he left himself having to hole from nine feet to keep his title hopes alive. He made that, but he could not match Singh's four when they played the hole again.

Collated final round scores & totals (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72)

271Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 66 70 68 67 (Jeev won at 1st Play-off hole), Francesco Molinari (Ita) 62 70 67 72

272Marc Warren 68 69 64 71, Alexander Noren (Swe) 66 66 70 70

273Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 65 72 64 72, Matthew Baldwin 67 68 71 67, Thomas Levet (Fra) 68 69 66 70

274Peter Whiteford 71 65 66 72, Phillip Price 68 69 68 69, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 69 66 70

275Anders Hansen (Den) 68 67 65 75, Shane Lowry 66 69 69 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 64 71 68 72, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 68 69 67 71, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 67 67 69 72

276Phil Mickelson (USA) 73 64 65 74, Andy Sullivan 69 69 69 69, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 66 72 67 71, Martin Laird 68 70 64 74, Luke Donald 67 68 68 73, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 67 70 66 73, Pádraig Harrington 69 69 67 71, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 65 71 69 71

277Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 68 66 72, Stephen Gallacher 68 72 65 72, Richard Green (Aus) 68 69 67 73, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 70 66 72, Peter Lawrie 66 69 68 74

278Andrew Marshall 66 72 68 72, Alastair Forsyth 71 68 68 71, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 69 69 69, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 67 68 69 74, Simon Dyson 68 69 67 74, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 68 66 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 68 70 67 73

280Andrew Johnston 69 70 67 74, Chris Wood 68 72 67 73, Robert Coles 66 71 71 72, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 69 64 73 74, David Horsey 68 72 67 73, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 68 69 72 71, David Lynn 71 67 71 71, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 70 65 73 72, David Dixon 68 71 69 72, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 72 68 68 72, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 70 67 73

281Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 69 71 70 71, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 70 68 65 78, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 71 69 72, Oscar Floren (Swe) 67 72 71 71, Lee Slattery 71 67 73 70

282Anthony Wall 67 68 72 75, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 70 67 69 76, Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 70 68 74, Tim Sluiter (Ned) 73 66 72 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 73 67 70 72, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 69 72 72

283Steve Webster 69 68 75 71, Rhys Davies 72 68 68 75, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 68 72 72 71

284Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 69 70 72 73, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 72 68 72 72, Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 70 68 71 75, Daniel Denison 70 70 71 73, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 68 67 76 73, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 71 76 68, Steven O'Hara 69 71 69 75

285Ross Fisher 68 70 69 78, David Howell 70 67 77 71, Branden Grace (Rsa) 72 68 73 72, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 68 72 69 76

287Alex Haindl (Rsa) 70 68 69 80, James Morrison 72 67 74 74

288Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69 64 75 80, Jack Mcdonald 70 70 68 80

289Richard Wallis 72 68 73 76

290Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa) 70 70 73 77