Johl leaps to 10th place

Korea's Chung Joon moved to fourth place on the Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit after his breakthrough triumph in the US$400,000 Maekyung Open in Korea on Sunday.

Chung's maiden Asian PGA Tour title, which he won by one shot over India's Amandeep Johl, was worth US$81,037 and swelled his season's earnings to US$94,802, already a career high.

The 31-year-old Korean moved up 39 places from his previous ranking, with three players -- leader Arjun Atwal of India (US$218,243), China's Zhang Lian-wei (US$155,569) and Australian Brad Kennedy (US$115,598) -- ahead of him.

The leading duo did not play last week while Kennedy, whose best outing this season was joint second place in the European Tour-sanctioned Carlsberg Malaysian Open, finished equal 22nd.

Johl, who won US$50,648 for his second place finish at the weekend, jumped to 10th position on the merit list with US$62,931.

A third place outing in Korea pushed Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand up by three rungs to fifth place. The 2001 Asian PGA Order of Merit winner has accumulated US$85,554, thanks to four top-10 performances this season.

The next event on the Asian PGA Tour is the US$400,000 SK Telecom Open in Korea from June 26-29.

Top-20 Money earners (winnings in US $):

1 Arjun Atwal (IND) 218,243.58

2 Zhang Lian-Wei (CHN) 155,569.58

3 Brad Kennedy (AUS) 115,598.03

4 Chung Joon (KOR) 94,802.70

5 Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 85,554.34

6 Rick Gibson (CAN) 73,245.60

7 Ted Purdy (USA) 72,580.00

8 Thammanoon Srirot (THA) 67,431.97

9 Prayad Marksaeng (THA) 67,030.71

10 Amandeep Johl (IND) 62,931.19

11 Daniel Chopra (SWE) 60,576.97

12 Mike Cunning (USA) 60,453.57

13 Simon Yates (SCO) 49,686.19

14 Craig Kamps (RSA) 46,216.58

15 Ted Oh (KOR) 44,536.67

16 James Kingston (RSA) 44,447.02

17 Lin Keng-chi (TPE) 42,393.30

18 Arjun Singh (IND) 35,365.08

19 Edward Loar (USA) 33,447.96

20 Kang Wook-soon   (KOR) 31,230.34