Mukesh Kumar on top after
hat-trick of wins
With the biggest event of Indian domestic Tour -- the Honda-Siel PGA Championship -- just around the corner, Mukesh Kumar reaffirmed his position as the top golfer of the country.
Mukesh, the champion golfer of the year for past three seasons, leapt to the
top of the PGAI Money List courtesy his three victories in-a-row in the
recently-concluded Southern Swing of the 2002-03 season of the Hero Honda
Indian Golf Tour.
The Mhow golfer won the Rs 700,000 Hindu Open, the Rs 600,000 Hyundai Open and the
Rs 850,000 Cotton City Open to tally a whopping Rs 3,48,300 from three
events in three weeks. Coupled with a tied second finish at the TNGF Open
and the ColorPlus Open in the previous weeks, the 35-year-old has aggregated
Rs 5,29,912 from the seven tournaments this season.
The amazing consistency helped Mukesh overtake Digvijay Singh, who dropped
down to second place with earnings of Rs 4,56,612. The 29-year-old from
Meerut won the season-opening Rs 1.5 million Royal Springs Open at Srinagar and
the Rs 600,000 ColorPlus Open in Chennai.
Feroz Ali of Kolkata, with three runner-up finishes in seven starts, is at
third place with Rs 3,99,088, while Vijay Kumar, winner of Hero Honda Open
in Bangalore and the TNGF Open in Chennai, is fourth with a tally of Rs
3,46,200. Vijay did not participate in the last three events of Southern
Swing after deciding to play the Asian PGA Tour events in China and Taiwan.
Delhi youngster Ashok Kumar, who turned pro at the start of this season, is
in sixth place with Rs 1,98,700, one spot behind Shiv Shankar Prasad
Chowrasia of Kolkata, who has made Rs 2,24,612 this season.
However, with the winner earning in excess of Rs 400,005 at the Honda-Siel
PGA Championship, scheduled to start at the DLF Golf & Country Club from
October 3, Mukesh has his task cut out. He will have to finish in the
top-three and hope that Digvijay or Feroz don't win the title to retain his
position on top at the end of the most anticipated week on the Hero Honda
Indian Golf Tour.
Seven events have been played on the Tour this season. The players have won
a total of Rs 6.25 million so far. As many as 17 players have already crossed
the Rs one lakh earning mark. The Tour is expected to feature 28 events this
season and set a record for prize-money in one season, crossing the Rs 20.23 million figure of 2001-02 season.
TOP-15 ON MONEY LIST: 1. Mukesh Kumar (Mhow) Rs 529,912; 2. Digvijay Singh
(Meerut) Rs 456,612; 3. Feroz Ali (Kolkata) Rs 399,088; 4. Vijay Kumar
(Lucknow) Rs 346,200; 5. Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Kol) Rs 224,612;
6. Ashok Kumar (Delhi) Rs 198,700; 7. Shiv Prakash (Kanpur) Rs 172,765; 8.
Gaurav Ghei (Del) Rs 168,400; 9. Rohtas Singh (Del) Rs 167,255; 10. Ranjit
Singh (Chandigarh) Rs 151,505; 11. Jyoti Randhawa (Del) Rs 149,000; 12.
Harmeet Kahlon (Chd) Rs 142,150; 13. Uttam Singh Mundy (Kol) Rs 130,850;
14. Rafiq Ali (Kol) Rs 115,288; Yusuf Ali (Kol) Rs 114,005
