Bhullar, Muniyappa's rise highlights of Indian golf in 2009

Gaganjeet Bhullar bridged the gap between promise and performance, while C Muniyappa starred in a rags-to-riches story as the Young Turks outshone their senior pros in 2009 to assure that the future of Indian golf is in safe hands.

Among the Big Three, Jeev Milkha Singh had a rare winless year, Arjun Atwal spent most of the time recovering from career-threatening injuries and inconsistent Jyoti Randhawa tasted his lone success at the Singha Thailand Open.

In stark contrast, Bhullar and Muniyappa earned their breakthrough wins on Asian Tour, Shiv Kapur came tantalisingly close to winning his maiden European Tour title in South Africa and Anirban Lahiri signalling he could be the next Indian to lift an Asian Tour title.

And there could be no second opinion that Bhullar is the find of the season.

An imposing 22-year-old from the Punjab town of Kapurthala, Bhullar lifted five titles at home and became the youngest Indian to win an Asian Tour title (Indonesian President Invitational) and play in a Major (The British Open) in a season that has redefined his career.

Besides, he finished runners-up at two other Asian Tour events -- Brunei Open and the Macau Open. His world rankings improved significantly as a result and Bhullar ended the season 167th in the world.

The strapping golfer signed off sixth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit this year with impressive earnings of US$ 308,916.

Being the youngest Indian winner on the Asian Tour, Bhullar also earned an exempt status until 2011, making the year gone by the best of Bhullar's career so far.

He had barely managed to retain his card last season when he had to wait until the second last tournament to be inside the top-65 in the money list.

While Bhullar rose meteorically, caddie-turned-pro Muniyappa's success came slow and steady.

The 32-year-old, who spent his childhood caddying at the Karnataka Golf Association before turning pro in 1997, lifted his maiden Asian Tour title at the Indian Open in October.

The field was missing home stars like Jeev and past champion Jyoti Randhawa, who were busy trying to save cards on other tours, but Muniyappa more than made up for their absence with his surprising triumph reminiscent of another caddie-turned-pro SSP Chowarasia's inspiring win in the 2008 Indian Masters.

With three other top-25 finishes, Muniyappa signed off the season 10th on the Order of Merit. The Asian Tour Rookie of the Year award was the icing on the cake for the humble Bangalorean, whose meteoric rise was hailed by one and all.

Anirban Lahiri was another Indian golfer whose career seemed on the upswing despite the fact that he won just a couple of domestic titles. Lahiri, however, was consistency personified with seven top-10 finishes out of 11 starts he made in the domestic circuit.

He also managed four top-10 finishes on the Asian Tour. The consistency helped Lahiri end the year on top of the Professional Golf Tour of India Order of Merit and walk away with the Player of the Year trophy at the annual PGTI awards.

But it was a disappointing year for established stars like Jeev and Randhawa, although the latter has an Asian Tour title -- the Singha Thailand Open -- to show for.

Jeev's season, meanwhile, was marred by injuries. A rib injury prevented him from participating in the British Open and a couple of Japan Tour events before an ankle problem added to his woes in the later half of the year.

The Chandigarh golfer, who won four titles on three different tours last year, had no wins to show in 29 tournaments he played and the only highlight of his season was the fourth-place finish at the WGC-CA Championships.

His rankings suffered because of the mediocre show and the seasoned golfer slipped out of the top-50 to end the year 58th. But the fact that he managed to retain his PGA Tour card for next season would be some consolation for the average year.

Jyoti Randhawa, on the other hand, flopped on the European Tour but notched up a few top-10 finishes on the Asian Tour but apart from winning the Thailand Open, he failed to make much impact.

Delhi-golfer Shiv Kapur had a similar tale of disappointment to tell for most part of the season before he managed to end it on a positive note with a runner-up finish at the South African Open, where he lost the title in a playoff.

Kapur barely managed to save his Asian Tour card by ending tied third at the Cambodian Open last month.

The US-based Arjun Atwal continued to nurse a career-threatening wrist and didn't play enough to make any impact.

The mixed fortunes of players notwithstanding, Indian golf remained on the rise beating the recession blues that have rocked the game elsewhere.

In fact, the country will welcome two new tournaments in 2010, the euro 1.5 million Avantha Masters from February 11-14 and the US$ 500,000 Nimbus Pro-Am Championship from February 18 to 21 and with new stars waiting to make a mark, the coming year promises to be an exciting one for Indian golf.