Four Indians in top-200 of World golf

NEW DELHI: India's rising stock in golf became evident with four players of the country figuring in the top-200 of the latest official World rankings.

Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal, Shiv Kapur and Jeev Milkha Singh find themselves among 11 Asian Tour members who feature in the elite list.

Randhawa, who played all four rounds at the British Masters last week, is 122nd in the world while Arjun Atwal is 143 and Shiv Kapur 149th. Jeev Milkha Singh, the current leader in the UBS Order of Merit, is ranked 161st.

Australian Andrew Buckle, who won on the Nationwide Tour in the US last week, is the highest ranked Asian Tour member at number 83, followed by two-time Asian number one Thongchai Jaidee who is 94th.

Australian Jarrod Lyle is 152nd, while 2005 Asian Tour number one Thaworn Wiratchant is 126th. England's Simon Dyson, winner of this year's HSBC Indonesia Open, is 130th.

The other Asian Tour members in the top-200 list include Prayad Marksaeng (165th), Charlie Wi (171st) and Terry Pilkadaris (177th). Korea's KJ Choi, who cut his professional teeth in Asia before finding success on the USPGA Tour, is the highest ranked Asian at 40th in the world while former Asian old hand Ted Purdy is ranked 74th.