India's top golfer Jeev Milkha Singh was overjoyed after his maiden Japanese Tour victory on Sunday ensured a third title of a dream season after seven years of frustration.
The Asian Tour Order of Merit winner clinched a two-stroke victory at the Casio World Open in Kochi, Japan.
"I feel great," Singh said from Tokyo on Monday. "I have come close many times in the past in Japan, but finishing it off gives me a sense of achievement.
"I've won on three different tours this season," he said. "It has been a perfect year."
The 34-year-old Singh had struggled in the past because of his inability to cash in on good early rounds and due to injuries, leaving compatriots Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa to keep the Indian flag flying in international golf.
However, he ended the title drought with victory at the co-sanctioned China Open in April and followed up with a surprise triumph at the European Tour's Volvo Masters in Spain last month.
He captured the Asian Tour Order of Merit with a record total of $573,422 this month, after finishing 16th on the European Tour moneylist.
"I've changed my thinking to focus more on the process than results," he said. "This has lifted my confidence and my game."
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Singh is confident of breaking into the world's top 50, which would get him an automatic entry into the Masters, the opening major of the year.
"My goal is to get into the top 50," he said. "I've played rock solid around the world this year."
Milkha Singh, the player's father and India's greatest track athlete, was delighted with his son's achievement, which was reported on the front pages of Indian newspapers, contrasting with the cricket team's dismal showing in South Africa.
"I'm thrilled," Milkha Singh said from Chandigarh city. "I hope his achievements motivate more youngsters who play cricket to take up golf.
"I've always told Jeev that only willpower, dedication and hard work would get him success. That is paying dividends."
The golfer almost quit last week's Hong Kong Open, where he finished third, after his mother fractured her foot and shoulder in a fall, but his father persuaded him to continue playing.
Singh's packed calendar will end at the Volvo Masters of Asia in Bangkok next month, but he did not mind the workload.
"This has been a great year," he said. "I hope I can, but I don't know whether I can repeat this."
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