Vijay Kumar may have lost the Air-Canada Forest Hill Golf Open title narrowly after forcing a play-off with Yusuf Ali in Chandigarh last week, but the second place finish was enough for the stocky golfer from Lucknow to climb atop the Order of Merit list on the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour.

The 35-year-old pro has amassed Rs 6,33,628 from 10 starts in a total of 13 events on the Hero Honda Golf Tour thus far. Having made headway, Vijay would be hoping to regain the `Champion golfer of the year' title he had last won in 1999. Close on his heels is SSP Chowrasia, who is trailing the leader by a mere Rs 1,363. The diminutive pro from Kolkata who has played all the 13 events, holds his second position with earnings of Rs 6,32,265.

With the race for Order of Merit title being a close one, Ashok Kumar found himelf slipping down the pecking order after skipping the Air Canada Forest Hill Open because of an Asian PGA Tour assignment. Ashok, leader till a week ago,  dropped to fourth place with earnings of Rs 6,09,610, could well regain his position if he has a good finish in the upcoming Sir Padampat Singhania Open which begins at the Noida Golf Course from Wednesday.

Four-times 'Champion Golfer of the year' Mukesh Kumar is in third spot with earnings of Rs 6,24,990 while Digvijay Singh is fifth with a total of Rs 5,54,823.

Meanwhile, Sandeep Syal leads the hunt for the 'Rookie of the year' award. Currently, the lad from Chennai is in the 28^th position overall with a total of Rs 1,47,418 from 12 outings. His nearest rival - Gurbaaz Mann who also skipped the Air Canada-Forest Hill Golf Open occupies the 32^nd position with earnings of Rs 1,27,200.

Order of Merit (after 13 events):
Vijay Kumar (Lucknow) Rs Rs 6,33,628
SSP Chowrasia (Kolkata) Rs 6,32,265
Mukesh Kumar (Mhow) Rs 6,24,990
Ashok Kumar (Delhi) Rs 6,09,610
Digvijay Singh (Meerut) Rs 5,54,823
Arjun Singh (Delhi) Rs 4,98,300
Uttam Singh Mundy (Kolkata) Rs 4,29,362
Yusuf Ali (Kolkata) Rs 4,14,241
Feroz Ali (Kolkata) Rs 3,93,240
Rafiq Ali (Kolkata) Rs 3,93,065
Pappan (Delhi) Rs 3,79,040
Gaurav Ghei (Delhi) Rs 3,29,980
Jyoti Randhawa (Delhi) Rs 2,91,600
Rahul Ganapathy (Bangalore) Rs 2,75,370
Sanjay Kumar (Lucknow) Rs 2,65,766.