| It has been one of the finest years for Indian golf, one during which numerous landmarks were set. |
| It is that time of the year when everybody is giving everybody else Christmas and New Year presents. But I will stick to end-of-the-year awards, some to be taken seriously and others not-so-seriously, but all in good faith: |
| Achiever of the Year: Arjun Atwal for obvious reasons. In case you still don't know, you become eligible for the "Ignoramus of the Year" award. |
| Still, we will forgive and let you know, Atwal became the first Indian to qualify for the US PGA Tour; became second Indian to top Asian order of Merit; became first Asian to top million dollars in career earnings; won a second European Tour title; won Hero Honda Masters title for the second time; with Jyoti Randhawa became first Indian to play in a WGC event, the $6-million WGC-Amex Championships. Yawn... the list is too long. |
| The Sushi & Saki Trophy of the Year: Jyoti Randhawa for becoming the first Indian to win on the Japanese PGA Tour, by grabbing the Suntory Open. Also received the "Most Generous Champion of the Year" Award for donating the 1,000 cans of beer he received as part of his winning booty. |
| Most Improved Golfer at Home and Abroad: Digvijay Singh, brother-in-law of Jyoti Randhawa, for winning twice at home besides qualifying for World Cup and contending for the Hero Honda Masters title. |
| Hot property on Home Soil 2002-03: Mukesh Kumar, who won 10 titles in the 2002-03 season and won a record prize money of just over Rs 21 lakhs. |
| Hot property on Home Soil 2003-04: SSP Chowrasia, for winning twice in a row at the end of the 2004 calendar year and threatening to dethrone Mukesh from the pole position he has held for last four years. |
| Don't Overlook Me Trophy: Ashok Kumar, winner of the Rookie of the Year in 2002-03 and overall fourth on the Money List, is third on current season's list with one win and seven top-10 finishes in 10 tournaments. |
| I'm On My Way Trophy: Shared by Amandeep Johl and Arjun Singh. Wracked by injuries and self-doubt, Johl, who also doubles up as a TV commentator on Tour events, came within a stroke of his maiden win, and finally finished a career-best 14th in Merit List. |
| Arjun Singh, who two years ago took a medical exemption, continued his steady progress with his 21st position in Merit List for 2003. |
| I Tried Too Hard Trophy (Disappointment of the year "" International): Jeev Milkha Singh, for going through yet another year without a win "" he has not won since 1999. He also lost cards in Japan and Nationwide Tours, but regained the Japanese card by qualifying through the School. |
| Stout Heart Salver: Daniel Chopra for finishing sixth in US PGA Q-School and earning the coveted card. That after overcoming the disappointment of missing the US PGA card by just $1,170-odd while finishing 21st on the Nationwide Tour. |
| The first 20 get a US PGA card, which has $245 million in prize money as compared to about $20 million on Nationwide. |
| Team of the Year Trophy: Asian Team for Dynasty Cup which with three Indians, Arjun Atwal, Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh. Asia outplayed the more fancied Japanese Team in the inaugural Ryder Cup-style match, which will be held every two years. |
| Don't Cry for Me Trophy (Indian Underachiever of the year "" Asian Tour): Vivek Bhandari for struggling through the year, during which he barely made a cut. Bhandari, who was ninth in Asia in 2001 goes back to the Q-School in January. |
| Don't Cry for Me Trophy (Underachiever of the year "" Indian Tour): Rahul Ganapathy, the Rookie of the Year in 2000-01 in India is still to win his maiden title. |
| Ganapathy, who shot a record 12-under round of 60 at Servo Masters in 2002, has been overtaken by Rahil Gangjee (Rookie of the Year, 2001-02) and Ashok Kumar (Rookie of the Year 2002-03). Gangjee won a title in his rookie year, as did Ashok. |
| Frequent Flyer of the Year Cup: Jeev Milkha Singh, for shuttling between Asian PGA Tour, Japanese PGA and Nationwide Tour. He collected more miles than cheques and his best finish was a second close to the end of the year in Acer Taiwan Open. |
| Big Heart Shield: PGAI for flying Digvijay Singh and Gaurav Ghei first class for the World Cup. The Indians were making the World Cup for the first time since 1997 and PGAI gave them a treat by booking them first class to Kiawah Island, US for the event. |
| Stars in their Eyes: Shared by Viraat Badhwar, Tanya Wadhwa and Vaishavi Sinha. At an age when children are more obsessed with Pokemon cards, Viraat (U-10) and Tanya (U-12) wielded their golf clubs in style while finishing second in their respective age groups at the World Junior (age-group) golf championships. |
| Vaishavi Sinha for making a mark among senior Indian amateur women, while still being short of her teens. |
| Keep your hands off Salvers for Parents: To the parents of Viraat, Tanya and Vaishavi to request them not to pressure on their talented kids. |
| Form Missing, Smile Intact Cup: Gaurav Ghei, despite not holding onto to his Asian PGA card, kept smiling and hoped for a reversal of fortunes, as he took a country spot and also applied for Q-School for next season on Asian PGA Tour. |
| Shot of the Year by an Indian: Albatross by Jyoti Randhawa at Taiheiyo Masters in Japan, where he finished tied for seventh, his second best finish of the season in Japan. |
| Big Cheque for showing up: Gaurav Ghei and Digvijay Singh "" $21,000 each for 22nd place from among 23 teams that finished at the World Cup of Golf at Kiawah Island. |
| Thailand, the team that finished behind them in 23rd place got $20,500 each! Winners, Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini pocketed $700,000 each. |
| Big Cheque for Last Man Standing: Jyoti Randhawa at Suntory Open "" Yen 20 million, equivalent to $ 170,314 on that day. |
| A close second was Arjun Atwal, who received just a little more than $ 150,000 for his win at the joint-sanctioned Malaysian Open. |
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