By IANS,
New Delhi : Indian players continued to dominate the Asian Tour Order of Merit with seven players in the top-20 of the latest list released Monday. Even as there was no change in the top-10 of the rankings, Jeev Milkha Singh was lying second behind New Zealand’s Mark Brown.
Brown heads the race for the region’s coveted title with his haul of $651,093 while Jeev is second on $540,694 after the conclusion of 12 tournaments in the 2008 season. With plenty to play for, both Brown and Jeev could make history by becoming the first players to surpass $1 million in earnings in a single season in Asia.
Indians also occupied the third (S.S.P. Chowrasia with $439,930), fourth (Arjun Atwal with $419,387) and sixth place (Jyoti Randhawa with $256,643).
The other Indians in the top-20 are Digvijay Singh (12th with $152,781), Shiv Kapur (17th with $121,294) and Gaurav Ghei (19th with $115,274).
Meanwhile, Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol has added another feather in his cap when he surpassed the $1 million barrier in career earnings after the conclusion of the Pine Valley Beijing Open Sunday.
Chawalit’s tied 35th finish at the Pine Valley Golf Club in China’s capital city saw him take his career winnings to $1,002,284 and made him the seventh player from Thailand, and the 21st overall, to reach the milestone.
The list of millionaires includes four Indians Randhawa (second overall), Jeev (fourth), Atwal (seventh) and Ghei (17th).
At the Pine Valley Beijing Open, the 12th leg of Asian Tour, Thongchai Jaidee, who showed a welcome return to form with a tied seventh finish in China, took his career earnings to $2.6 million, followed by Randhawa with $2.2 million.