September 21st 2011: Jeev Milkha Singh will not be competing in the Hero Indian Open for the third year in row. There are also doubts on the participation of top pros Shiv Kapur and Arjun Atwal.

Jeev had withdrawn from the last edition with a back injury. However, this time the Chandigarh pro will not be able to play the Open due to his European Tour commitments. The Euro 2.5 million Portugal Masters falls on the same dates as the Indian Open (October 13-16) thus forcing Jeev to skip the event.

"I will not be playing in the Indian Open as I am playing in the Portugal Masters, which is a big event especially when my aim is to improve my ranking," Jeev told TOI from Shiga (Japan), where he will be competing in the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open this week.

"My record in Portugal and Spain has been good. I am 75th on the 'Race to Dubai' and if I have a good finish there I can enter the top-60. If things go well, I see myself making the cut for the British Open (a Major), for which I need to be in the top-30 of the Order of Merit," added Jeev, ranked 206th in the world.

There were rumours that Jeev had opted out of the Indian Open after he was refused $100,000 as appearance fee by the organizers. The 39-year-old, however, rubbished it saying: "I have always considered it my national open. It's sad that such rumours are being floated. I have been a great supporter of Indian golf and people associated with it do know that." Jeev is playing on the Japanese Tour as he needs to play at least three events to keep his exemption intact for the next year.

"I will be playing in the Tokai Classic the following week and then will move to Spain for the Madrid Masters and then on to Portugal," he said.

No change in prize money: The prize purse for the Indian Open remains unchanged at $1.25 million after Hero Motocorp renewed their deal with the promoters Nimbus Sports. This comes as a surprise since earlier it was confirmed as a $1.5 million event by the Asian Tour. The development comes in the wake of Hero Group's split with Honda Motors.