New Delhi, May 23: The richest ever season on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour will witness its final leg, the Amby Valley PGAI Championship of India played at the Amby Valley Golf Course from 1st to 4th June, 2005. The pro-am will bring the curtain down on proceedings on 5th June.

The second richest event in the history of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour, the tournament offers Rs 45 lakhs in prize purse with the winner’s cheque amounting to Rs 7,29,000. The runner-up will pocket Rs 5,04,000, while the last place will fetch Rs 20,079. The 21st leg of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour’s 2004-05 season, will propel the total prize purse for the season to a record total of Rs 3.05 crores.

Leading the brigade of those who raked it in, is Mukesh Kumar, who has amassed a record total of Rs 24,64,360 in only 18 starts. Mukesh’s achievement has been aided by six title triumphs. Ashok Kumar stands second in that list at Rs 13, 48,469, a staggering Rs 11,15,891 behind the leader. Ashok has five wins to his credit.

The growth of the Tour in one single calendar year can be assessed by the fact that the top five golfers have each earned in excess of Rs 10-lakhs, with Shiv Kapur (Rs 12,36,400), Rafick Ali (Rs 10,29,442) and Vijay Kumar (Rs 97,67,92) completing that list.

The top-10 golfers have earned in excess of Rs 6 lakhs, while the top-14 in excess of five lakhs. 17 golfers have crossed the Rs 4 lakh barrier while as many a 27 have taken home an amount greater than three lakhs. The figure for those earning more than two lakhs stands at 38, with 65 golfers entitled to call themselves ’lakhpatis’.

With the Rs 45 lakh Amby Valley PGA Championship of India still to be played these figures will definitely undergo a sea change which will depict a clear picture of where professional golf stands as a career option today. Amby Valley, which has raised the bar of quality standards of lifestyle in India has also changed the face of Indian sport. And the Indian golf is now reaping the rewards and the sky is the limit from this point on.