NEW DELHI – Feb. 23, 2005 – Three-time Amby Valley PGAI Tour Order of Merit winner Mukesh Kumar set himself up nicely for a fourth title in five years as he opened up a near Rs three lakhs lead on 2004-05 season’s Order of Merit just a shade over halfway through the season.

Mukesh, who registered his fourth win of the season at the Airtel Open in Mumbai last week, pocketed the winner’s cheque of Rs 1,62,000, which propelled his earnings to a whopping Rs 13,40,600 in 13 outings.

Ashok Kumar, who upset Mukesh’s apple cart by topping the 2003-04 season’s Money List, was a distant second at Rs 10,43,094 in 11 outings. Ashok however has one title win more than Mukesh to his credit.

Leading Rookie Shiv Kapur who has had a phenomenal debut season, was placed third at Rs 8,63,150 in nine events. Shiv has eight top-ten finishes including two wins to his credit, which makes him the most consistent Rookie of all time on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour. Lucknow’s Vijay Kumar and Kolkata based brothers Rafick and Feroz Ali occupied the fourth, fifth and sixth positions with earnings of RS 7,57,400, Rs 5,08,100 and Rs 4,11,867 respectively. Of the three, Vijay and Rafick have one title each under their belts.

Positions seven to ten were taken by Chandigarh’s Ranjit Singh (Rs 3,95,568) and Amritinder Singh (Rs 3,58,500), Lucknow’s Sanjay Kumar (Rs 3,57,142) and Kolkata’s Yusuf Ali (Rs 3,34,693).

Star Asian PGA Tour golfer Arjun Singh, who recently won the Hero Honda Open West at Pune was placed 15th with earnings of Rs 2,78,000 in only three appearances.

Overall, in only 13 completed events as many as 12 golfers have crossed the Rs three-lakh earnings barrier while 23 have earned in excess of Rs two-lakhs. 40 golfers have crossed the one-lakh barrier which augurs excellently for what is undoubtedly the richest domestic sport in India.