On a sultry day at the Sentosa Golf Club Serapong course, Jeev Milkha Singh kept going although the odds were stacked against the veteran Indian golfer during a challenging first-round outing in the recent Singapore Open.

The 54-year-old, who is in the twilight of his storied career, was pitting his wits against players who were much younger – many even less than half his age – and stronger. In demanding conditions that his ‘junior’ Karandeep Kochhar likened to an “oven”, Jeev’s body was simply not coping so much so that he even struggled to swing properly.