Sentosa, October 31, 2008: Indian star Jeev Milkha Singh has vowed to challenge for the Asian Tour's Order of Merit crown when he returns to the region for the big-money events over the coming weeks.

Singh, Asia's number one in 2006, trails leader Mark Brown of New Zealand by a little over US$150,000 but he knows that the next three tournaments in Asia, which offers a combined purse of US$12.5 million, will certainly change the make-up of the merit list.

The Asian Tour will head to the US$5 million HSBC Champions in Shanghai next week, followed by the US$5 million Barclays Singapore Open and US$2.5 million UBS Hong Kong Open.

"Mark and I have a good contest going and I know just how determined he is to win the number one title just as I am to do the same," said Singh.

"I've won the Order of Merit title and I would love to win a second. It will come down to who does best in the HSBC, the Barclays and the UBS.

"There's huge prize money in those events and a win or a top finish in any of them would set you up for the merit title. It's going to be very interesting."

Singh has enjoyed a stellar season with wins in Austria and Japan but capping the year with a second Order of Merit crown would be the icing on the cake and also make him the first Indian to achieve a "double".

"There's a lot of prestige in winning the Asian Tour Order of Merit so I will be pushing Mark all the way," said the 36-year-old, who emulated Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa in winning the merit title two years ago.

The Order of Merit champion will gain exemptions into the British Open and WGC–CA Championship in the United States in 2009. In recent years, Augusta National Golf Club has also invited leading players from Asia to compete in the US Masters.

While Singh is already assured of another appearance in the British Open through his rankings in Europe, he is determined to end the year with a flourish.

"I'm into the British Open for next year already but it's such an honour to be named the Asian number one because the Asian Tour is now the third largest Tour in the world," said Singh.