Mukesh Kumar, who is in great form, having notched a victory and a second-placed finish in two starts, begins as hot favourite at The Hindu Open 2004, to be played at the Cosmo-TNGF course from September 15-18.

The tournament forms the third leg of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour 2004-05 season and the penultimate event of the `Southern Swing'.

The four-day professional event will see the country's top professionals vying for a total prize purse of Rs 10 lakh. The winner will take home Rs 1,62,000 while the runner-up will pocket Rs 1,12,000. The event is managed by Delhi-based Tiger Sports Marketing.

The Hindu Open is one of the most-liked and one of the oldest professional events on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour. The tournament is supported by the leading media house The Hindu.

"We have a rich tradition of supporting many sports and we are delighted to be associated with the game of golf, especially since we have some encouraging results in India and abroad," said

Nirmal Shekar, Sports Editor, The Hindu. "We will continue to support the game as we have done in the past," he added.

"We are indebted to The Hindu for their support towards the game. This will go a long way in the development of the game, especially in the Southern region," said Brandon de Souza, Managing Director Tiger Sports Marketing.

"We take pride in hosting The Hindu Open, which is an annual feature at our course," said Mr. N Srinivasan, president Tamil Nadu Golf Federation. "It is sponsors like them who are keeping the game alive," he added.

"Amby Valley aims to take the Tour to new heights through the umbrella sponsorship," said Col. S K Sinha, General Manager, Golf Operations Amby Valley Sahara Lake City.

Mukesh Kumar, winner of the Hindu Open in 2002, has been playing some consistent golf. His solitary bogey in 72 holes during the Amby Valley-MGC Open last week goes on to prove the Mhow-based pro's steady form. 

Having captured the Hyundai-TNGF Open, the opening event on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour 2004-05 season and a second place-finish in the next event, the 38-year-old starts as a clear favourite.

The rest of the field includes Order of Merit for 2003-04 season Ashok Kumar, 'Rookie of the Year' for the 2003-04 season Gurbaaz Mann, exciting rookies like Harinder Gupta. The field also includes veterans like Rohtas Singh, who has over a 100 titles to his credit, Basad Ali and Shiv Prakash.

Moderate rains during last week have given the 6303-yard par-72 course a lush green look. Going by the scores produced on this course, it promises to be an exciting proposition.