Star Indian golfer Arjun Atwal will look to the $ 1.5 million BMW Asian Open, the richest tournament on the Asian PGA Tour calendar, to reclaim his spot atop the Order of Merit list when he tees of at the Ta Shee Golf and Country Club, Taiwan, tomorrow.
The BMW Asian Open is the third last leg on the Asian PGA-run Davidoff Tour this season and the first stop on the 2002-03 European tour international schedule.
“I am keen to regain my spot atop the order of merit as it stands to open out a number of possibilities for me in the future,” Atwal was quoted as saying in a press release here today.
Atwal had recorded an impressive win at the Clatex Singapore Masters at the Laguna National GCC on the same tour, earlier this season.
Atwal’s other impressive performance this season, include a fourth place finish at the London Myanmar Open and a tied fifth finish at Hero Honda Masters 2002.
The New York based Arjun Atwal is currently placed second on the Order of Merit, with earnings of $177,675 in nine starts.
Thailand’s leading golfer Thongchai Jaidee heads the list at $183,015 in only five starts.
Jaidee, recently finished second in the TCL Classic last week behind Colin Montgomerie, and will relish a return to ta shee as he finished joint second with Jose Maria Olazabal last year, a result that propelled him to the Davidoff Tour Order of Merit title.