India's Jyoti Randhawa will hope to complete a remarkable comeback from injury this week by wrapping up the Asian Order of Merit at the Masters of Asia, starting on Thursday.
Randhawa, who takes a $23,706 lead into the season-ending event, having earned $262,330 so far, broke his collarbone in a motorcycle accident in March but has been in sparkling form since an enforced six-month lay-off.
The 30-year-old has not missed a cut since returning to action in September and moved into top spot in Asia when he finished runner-up to Ireland's Padraig Harrington at the Asian Open in Taiwan last month.
He also finished an impressive fifth in October's star-studded Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland and tied for eighth in the Hong Kong Open last week where he was joint leader at the halfway mark. It is this form that has enabled him to replace Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee, Asian number one last year, as leader of the Order of Merit.
If Randhawa manages to secure the money list crown at this week's inaugural $500,000 event at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club, he will become the first Indian player to do so in the eight-year history of the Asian PGA Tour.
"I think the injury from the bike accident has helped me to focus better," Randhawa, the son of a retired army general, told the Asian PGA web site.
"For six months I wasn't able to play and just sitting there gave me a lot of time to think and it made me refresh my mind. It helped me focus on my goals and I'm more focused when I'm playing now.
"Finishing fifth in the Dunhill Links also gave me a lot of confidence -- appearing in the best European field where the top 25 players in the world were playing.
"Once you've finished up there in a European Tour event it gives you the confidence and mental ability to do it time and again."
The lanky Indian will also look to his yoga instructor Sukhdev Singh, who will double up as his caddie in Kuala Lumpur, to help his preparations. Singh also helped Randhawa prepare in Taiwan.
YOGA INSTRUCTOR
"It was the first time I'd brought my instructor out to an event," added Randhawa, who married Tina Singh, the sister of fellow-Asian PGA professional Digvijay Singh, in 2000.
"It was good to have him with me as we could go through my yoga exercises in the morning and he can caddie for me as well."
Randhawa, runner-up on the Asian money list in 2000, appreciates he will have to put the money race to the back of his mind when he tees off this week.
"I'm ahead of Thongchai by just over $23,000 but I will try not to think about the order of merit during the tournament," added the Indian.
"It will be difficult as I would dearly love to win the money list title.
"The thought came to me a few times during the Hong Kong Open, but I tried to block it out and focus on the round."
It is this focus that has served Randhawa so well since turning professional in 1994 and joining the inaugural Asian PGA Tour a year later.
A four-times winner in Asia, Randhawa is renowned as one of the slowest and most particular of competitors on the Asian circuit, so much so that his pace of play earned the wrath of Thomas Bjorn in Hong Kong last week.
But the Indian, third on the Asian PGA's all-time money list, is clearly his own man and brushed aside the Danish Ryder Cup player's complaints.
Nor does he appear overly concerned about joining the ranks of the European Tour.
Already he has raised a few eyebrows by not taking out European Tour membership, despite earning more than enough with his cheques from Scotland and Taiwan.
"I didn't pay up the membership fees as I don't intend to earn a card for the European Tour via that route," added Randhawa.
"I prefer to win a European Tour-sanctioned event where I will then have the option of taking a two-year exemption."
Good news for the Asian PGA Tour and further evidence of a growing confidence that should see him crowned Asian number one in Malaysia this weekend.
