Any other player would have packed the bag and headed home but Jeev Milkha Singh, urged by his wife, shone through the grief of losing his child and turned in an even-par round to hump into the lead of the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup in Tokyo on Friday.

With his wife recuperating in a local hospital after delivering a stillborn baby, playing in the Nippon Series, last event of the season on the Japan Tour, was the last thing on Jeev's mind but he decided to tee off at the urging of his better half.

And he managed to total six-under 134, which opened up a one-stroke lead for the Indian, who won the event in 2006, with Toshinori Muto (70) and Katsumasa Miyamoto (71) breathing down his neck.

"I'm not in the mindset to be focusing on the game," said Jeev, who is now in the hunt for his second Japan Tour title of the year, following his triumph in the Nagashima Shigeo Invitational Sega Sammy Cup.

After his sizzling six-under 64 on Thursday, Jeev had a roller-coaster even-par round featuring five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey at the par-70 Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club course.

The bogeys on the second and seventh holes notwithstanding, Jeev made the turn at two-under before faltering on the back nine.

The next nine holes saw only one birdie, while Jeev double bogeyed the par-four 11th hole and dropped another shot on the 17th.