Asian Tour
The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. The Asian Tour is administered from offices in Singapore. It is controlled by a board with a majority of professional golfers, and a Tournament Players Committee of its player members, supported by an executive team. The Executive Chairman of the Board is the Burmese professional golfer Kyi Hla Han.
The first season in the current lineage was played in 1995, although there had been earlier attempts to create an Asian Tour. The Asian PGA was formed in July 1994 at a meeting in Hong Kong attended by PGA representatives from eight countries. In 1998 the Asian Tour became the sixth member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. In 2002, the tour moved its office from Hong Kong to Malaysia and in 2004 the tour was taken over by a new organisation established by the players, who had been in dispute with the previous management. In 2007 it moved to new headquarters on the resort island of Sentosa in Singapore,[1] which is also the home of the tour's richest sole sanctioned tournament, the Singapore Open. Official money events on the tour count for World Golf Ranking points.
Most of the leading players on the tour are Asian, but players from other parts of the world also participate (as of 2007 the country with most representatives profiled on the tour's official site is Australia). Each year the Asian Tour co-sanctions a number of events with the European Tour, in countries such as China, Malaysia and Indonesia, with these events offering higher prize funds than most of the other tournaments on the tour as a result. From 2008, 50 per cent of players’ earnings from the U.S. Open and The Open Championship will count towards the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit. The two Opens have been singled out from the other majors because they have open qualifying which Asian Tour members may enter.[2]
In 2004 the total prize fund was 11.4 million U.S. dollars, and by 2007 it had risen to 27.73 million U.S. dollars (all purses are fixed in dollars apart from those of The Open Championship and the Johnnie Walker Classic, which are fixed in British Pounds). However most of the tournaments with seven figure U.S. dollar purses are in events co-sanctioned by the European Tour, and European Tour players tend to collect most of the winnings in those tournaments. Asia's richest event, the $5 million HSBC Champions tournament, was first played in November 2005, is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour but did not count towards the money list for its first three years as any high placings by Asian Tour players would distort the money list, but from 2008 50% of the prize money will count towards the Order of Merit. The tour's richest sole sanctioned event is the Singapore Open, which will also reach the $5 million level in 2008. The tour's schedule remains quite unstable, with several in-season cancellations, reschedulings and prize fund alterations in 2007.
In 2006 the Asian Tour became the most prestigious men's tour on which a woman has made the half-way cut in recent times when Michelle Wie did so at the SK Telecom Open in South Korea.
Schedule
The table below shows the 2009 schedule.
The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Asian Tour events he had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Asian Tour members.
| Dates | Tournament | Country | Prize fund (US$) | Winner | OWGR pts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 9-11 | Royal Trophy | Thailand | N/A | Asia | N/A | Team event, co-sanctioned by the European Tour and Japan Golf Tour |
| Feb 5-8 | Emaar-MGF Indian Masters | India | 2,500,000 | N/A | N/A | Tournament cancelled.[3] |
| Feb 5-8 | Asian Tour International | Thailand | 300,000 | Rescheduled following cancellation of Indian Masters[4] | ||
| Feb 12-15 | Maybank Malaysian Open | Malaysia | 2,000,000 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour | ||
| Feb 19-22 | Johnnie Walker Classic | India | 2,500,000 | Co-sanctioned by the European and Australasian tours | ||
| Feb 26- 1 Mar | Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open | Indonesia | 1,250,000 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour | ||
| Mar 19-22 | SAIL Open Golf Championship at Jaypee Greens | India | 400,000 | Co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India | ||
| Mar 26-29 | Black Mountain Masters | Thailand | 500,000 | New tournament | ||
| Mar 31- 1 Apr | Open Championship International Qualifying Asia | Singapore | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5 places at The Open Championship available |
| Apr 16-19 | Volvo China Open | China | 2,200,000 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour | ||
| Apr 23-26 | Ballantine's Championship | South Korea | 2,900,000 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour | ||
| Apr 30- 3 May | The Jaidee Invitational, presented by Raimon Land | Thailand | 500,000 | New tournament | ||
| May 7-10 | Pine Valley Beijing Open | China | 1,200,000 | Co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour | ||
| May 14-17 | GS Caltex Maekyung Open | South Korea | 600,000 | Co-sanctioned by Korean Tour | ||
| May 21-24 | SK Telecom Open | South Korea | 600,000 | Co-sanctioned by Korean Tour. Last played on Asian Tour in 2007 | ||
| Jun 12-15 | U.S. Open | United States | 50% of 7,000,000 | Major championship. 50% of prize money counts towards Order of Merit. | ||
| Jul 17-20 | The Open Championship | United Kingdom | 50% of 8,600,000 | Major championship. 50% of prize money counts towards Order of Merit. | ||
| Jul 23-26 | Indonesian President Invitational | Indonesia | 400,000 | |||
| Jul 30- 2 Aug | Selangor Masters | Malaysia | 300,000 | |||
| Aug 6-9 | Brunei Open | Brunei | 300,000 | |||
| Aug 20-23 | Mercuries Taiwan Masters | Taiwan | 500,000 | |||
| Sep 24-27 | Omega European Masters | Switzerland | 2,500,000 | New event, co-sanctioned by the European Tour | ||
| Sep 24-27 | Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open | Japan | 2,200,000 | Co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour | ||
| Oct 1-4 | Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open | South Korea | 1,000,000 | Co-sanctioned by Korean Tour | ||
| Oct 8-11 | Hero Honda Indian Open | India | 1,000,000 | Co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India | ||
| Oct 15-18 | Midea China Classic | China | 500,000 | |||
| Oct 22-25 | Iskandar Johor Open | Malaysia | 500,000 | |||
| Oct 29- 1 Nov | Barclays Singapore Open | Singapore | 5,000,000 | Richest sole-sanctioned event | ||
| Nov 5-8 | Cambodian Open | Cambodia | 300,000 | |||
| Nov 5-8 | HSBC Champions | China | 50% of 5,000,000 | Co-sanctioned by the European, Australasian and Sunshine tours. 50% of prize money counts towards Order of Merit. | ||
| Nov 12-15 | Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong, China | 2,500,000 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour | ||
| Dec 10-13 | Volvo Masters of Asia | Thailand | 750,000 | Limited to top 65 on the Order of Merit |
Source: [1]
Schedule by year
The table below summarises the development of the tour since 2004, when the current organisation took control.
| Year | Official money tournaments | Total prize fund (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 32 | 43,550,000[5][6] |
| 2007 | 28 | 27,730,000 |
| 2006 | 26 | 23,990,000 |
| 2005 | 27 | 20,115,000 |
| 2004 | 21 | 11,400,000 |
Leading money winners by year
| Year | Leading player | Country | Earnings (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Jeev Milkha Singh |  India |
1,452,702 |
| 2007 | Liang Wen-Chong |  China |
532,590 |
| 2006 | Jeev Milkha Singh | India |
591,884 |
| 2005 | Thaworn Wiratchant |  Thailand |
510,122 |
| 2004 | Thongchai Jaidee | Thailand |
381,930 |
| 2003 | Arjun Atwal | India |
284,018 |
| 2002 | Jyoti Randhawa | India |
266,263 |
| 2001 | Thongchai Jaidee | Thailand |
353,060 |
| 2000 | Simon Dyson |  England |
282,370 |
| 1999 | Kyi Hla Han |  Myanmar |
204,210 |
| 1998 | Kang Wook-soon |  South Korea |
150,772 |
| 1997 | Mike Cunning |  United States |
170,619 |
| 1996 | Kang Wook-soon | South Korea |
183,737 |
| 1995 | Lin Keng-chi |  Taiwan |
177,856 |
Leading career money winners
The table below shows the leading money winners on the Asian Tour as of the end of the 2008 season. The official site has a top 100 list which also shows each player's winnings for the last six years.
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize money (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thongchai Jaidee | Thailand |
2,912,838 |
| 2 | Jeev Milkha Singh | India |
2,806,286 |
| 3 | Jyoti Randhawa | India |
2,287,113 |
| 4 | Thaworn Wiratchant | Thailand |
2,266,288 |
| 5 | Prayad Marksaeng | Thailand |
2,010,185 |
| 6 | Simon Yates |  Scotland |
1,698,743 |
| 7 | Liang Wen-Chong | China |
1,659,033 |
| 8 | Charlie Wi | South Korea |
1,461,329 |
| 9 | Lin Wen-tang |  Taiwan |
1,458,975 |
| 10 | Arjun Atwal | India |
1,453,396 |
Notes and references
- ^ Asian Tour Moves to New Home on Sentosa, asiantour.com, 14 August 2007.
- ^ Major Incentive for Tour Stars, asiantour.com, 12 February 2008.
- ^ "Golf-Financial crisis claims next year's Indian Masters". Reuters. December 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "New venue and new dates for Asian Tour International". asiantour.com. December 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- ^ The 2008 schedule has not yet been finalised. The figure shown in based on information on the official site as at 12 February 2008.
- ^ From 2008 total prize fund includes 50% of the purses at the U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and the HSBC Champions.