SSP Chowrasia moves to top of PGTI Order of Merit

New Delhi, Feb 26 (UNI) SSP Chowrasia moved up to the top of the PGTI Order of Merit, with earnings of Rs 16,67,000 following a second place finish at the Solaris Global Green Open Golf at the Bangalore Golf Club.

''I am thrilled to be in a position to lead the 2006-07 Order of Merit, as competition is very tough now as we are playing for big money each week and there is more depth on the tour. There are a lot of professionals who have the ability and the skills to be able to win, which makes it even tougher,'' said Chowrasia.

The Rs 60 Lakh Solaris Global Green Open Golf played an important role in deciding the rankings on the Order of Merit as Ashok Kumar, who took home the winner's cheque of Rs.9,72,000 moved up to second place with earnings of Rs 15,26,000. Ashok has two back-to- back victories to his credit so far this season -- the IndianOil XtraPremium Masters in Digboi and Solaris Global Green Open Golf here.

''It is an added bonus for me to be ranked so high and amongst some of the leading professional golfers of the country,'' said Ashok.

Meanwhile, Harmeet Kahlon moved to third place with earnings of Rs 12,51,000 after five tournaments on the PGTI calendar.

2006-07 PGTI ORDER OF MERIT: 1.SSP Chowrasia (Rs 16,67,000), 2.Ashok Kumar (Rs 15 ,26,000), 3.Harmeet Kahlon (Rs 12,51,000), 4.Jyoti Randhawa (Rs 11,34,000), 5.Digvijay Singh (Rs 10,22,500), 6.Lam Chih Bing (Rs 8,35,900), 7.C Muniyappa (Rs 7,12,400), 8.Vivek Bhandari (Rs 6.89,100), 9.Rahul Ganapathy (Rs 5,94,000), 10.Harinder Gupta (Rs 4,97,800) UNI