Jeev off to fast start with 68 in Marbella Legends event in Spain

India's Jeev Milkha Singh got off to a fine start on the 2025 Legends Tour season with a superb 4-under 68 in the first round of the Staysure Marabella Legends event here.

Jeev was lying tied 12th and his round included a superb eagle on the front nine and a hat-trick of birdies on the back.

Overall, he had an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys.

For Jeev it was his second Seniors event this year as he finished tied 28th at the Trophy Hassan II, an event on the Champions Tour PGA.

Jeev, who was 26th on the Legends Tour rankings last year, started on the tenth with a bogey. He rallied with three birdies in a row from the 14th, but dropped another shot on the 18tth.

On his second nine, he landed an eagle on Par-5 fifth and added a birdie on eighth for a 68 while playing with Scott Hend, a former colleague from both DP World Tour and Asian Tour.

There was a group of five players sharing the lead, including Colin Montgomerie, Anders Hansen, Simon Griffiths, Adilson Da Silva and Lionel Alexadre. They were all 7-under 65 each at the Aloha Golf Club in beautiful conditions in southern Spain.

Colin Montgomerie rolled in a long birdie putt down a tier on the 18th green to the delight of the spectators who followed him and local favourite Miguel Angel Jimenez right from their very first shots.

Last year's Legends Tour number one Adilson da Silva remarkably birdied all four of the tough quartet of par-3s on the way to his 65. The Brazilian kept a blemish off his card as he started 2025 in the same fashion that he ended the 2024 season.

Three-time DP World Tour winner Anders Hansen hasn't played competitive golf in recent years, but there wasn't much sign of any rust as the Dane reeled off seven red numbers in a 10-hole stretch from the 5th and finished with four pars to post his 65.

Simon Griffiths is another player to carry good form into the new year. The Englishman picked up a win, a 2nd, a 3rd, a 4th, a 5th, a 6th and an 8th in his last nine tournaments last season to claim the Barry Lane Rookie of the Year Award.

Griffiths had eight birdies and one bogey to make a strong start in pursuit of a second Legends Tour win.

The final man to sit at -7 is Lionel Alexandre, who earned his card at Qualifying School recently for the third year in a row.

There are 11 former Ryder Cup players in the field. Among them, four-time European team member Jimenez and Legends Tour debutant Stephen Gallacher signed for rounds of 69 to sit in tied 16th.