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Singh in good shape for Hong Kong finale
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Singh in good shape for Hong Kong finale

Jeev Milkha Singh is hoping he has put his injury troubles firmly behind him as he battles to keep hold of his European Tour card at the UBS Hong Kong Open.

Jeev Milkha Singh

The four-time European Tour winner has struggled with injury through the years, with a shoulder complaint his most recent problem, but he showed he was fully fit and firing at Hong Kong Golf Club on Saturday.

The Indian played the back nine in 30 to get within five shots of joint leaders Lucas Bjerregaard and Justin Rose going into the final round.

It could prove to be one of the most important rounds of his career with his exemption for winning the 2012 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open running out at the end of this season and his position of 140th in the Race to Dubai.

It is likely he will need to finish at least second to retain his playing privileges for next season but Singh insists that injuries will not be to blame should he fail.

"I'm in better shape and I'm working a lot on my mental side, also," he said.

I think everything should fall into place and see what comes my way - Jeev Milkha Singh

"With the injuries, it's fine. You can recover from that. But the setback you have is on the mental side; the shots you hit, and you can't hit those shots and the shots sometimes you hit on the golf course, they give you bad pitches and bad memories.

"I think that you have to delete those and move on. The more you delete those and the more good shots you hit, I think good memories come back and good scores come back."

Jason Scrivener needs the same result if he is to keep hold of his card as he sits just one place above Singh in the rankings but one below him on the leaderboard.

The Australian insists, however, he is not feeling the pressure and will just be going out to try and win a golf tournament.

Jason Scrivener

"I'm looking forward to the challenge tomorrow and trying to give myself a chance to win," he said.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't know what I needed to do but I'm in a position where I can try and forget about it and just try and win the golf tournament.

"I came into the week with no pressure, I didn't feel, on myself. So if I did give myself a chance to win and finish first or second then great. If not, then I've still got some status and I'll go to Q-School.

"No real pressure, I don't feel, I just want to give myself a chance."

Matt Ford is also in a tie for sixth but his ranking of 117th means that should be enough to get him into the top 110 if he is still be there come close of play on Sunday.

And while he admits that securing his place for the 2016 season is playing on his mind, the Englishman is just trying to focus on his game.

"It's just natural for those thoughts just to stay there," he said. "It's very difficult to keep them back but that's my job, just to keep those thoughts away and keep focusing on what I'm doing. Just try and stay relaxed and enjoy it which obviously is hard.

"It's normally harder at the beginning of the round than the end of the round so hopefully I can just keep that at bay and keep going. I'm playing nicely, so just keep it going."

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