Asian Tour signals intent to become global power in golf with new international series, Hong Kong on list of 10 tournaments
- Region’s premier golf Tour announces new 10-event international series with stops in London, mainland China and Hong Kong
- First event will be in Thailand next month at Black Mountain Golf Club, with London stop in June
The Asian Tour has signalled its intention to take on its more established European and American rivals on their own turf, with the creation of an international series that will know no boundaries.
An initial 10-tournament series this year will include stops in London, mainland China, Hong Kong, and across Asia and the Middle East, with up to US$2 million in prize money at each event.
Additional events are likely to follow in the future, with Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf Investments, which is backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and has increased its support for the Asian Tour to US$300 million, saying on Tuesday that it would not be “geofenced”.
“Just because the International Series is associated with the Asian Tour, we want to get the message out there that it’s just not specifically for the Asian region, and that’s critically important for everybody to understand,” Norman said.
“We are setting the Asian Tour up as a powerful new force on the world golf stage.”
Thailand will play host to the first event, at the Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin, between March 3 and 6, with the next stop in London at the Centurion Club from June 9 to 12, four days before the US Open.
Further tournaments have been planned for Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Middle East, before the series moves through mainland China, Singapore and Hong Kong.
“If you look at the way the other tours are operating, as well, there’s instances where the PGA Tour plays in Asia,” Cho Minn Thant, the Tour’s CEO, said. “There’s instances where the DP World Tour is trying to or playing in Asia, as well. Obviously there’s no boundaries any more in the world of golf.”
However, there are no set dates for the remaining eight tournaments, and Cho said that was because “we are still in the midst of a Covid pandemic where travel is difficult in Asia”.
Whether the DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour, and the PGA Tour take this move as a declaration of war or not remains to be seen, but they have not been shy in their opposition and Norman repeatedly said on Tuesday that this was “just the beginning” for the international series.
And while the Asian Tour said it intended to “attract an international field of headline talent”, Norman was at pains to point out that the series should be seen by others as “healthy and respectful competition” and questioned why the two main tours felt the need to go on the offensive.
“Are you scared of something?” Norman said. “What is LIV Golf Investments doing that you are scared of? Why do you have to have these attacks to the level they do? Understand the fact that we have always and continued to be very collaborative and cooperative with any of the institutions right across the board. We want to work together side by side.”
The Asian Tour’s 2022 season begins on Thursday with the PIF Saudi International, and the US$5 million prize fund has attracted big names from both Europe and America, with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mikelson taking part.
For the Asian Tour, which Norman called “a sleeping giant”, the International Series will be added to its regular season calendar, creating a 25-event season.
Cho called the 10 new tournaments “elite events, the likes of which the region has not seen before”, and added that it would make the start of a “phenomenal period of growth” for the Tour.
For Hong Kong it will mean the return of top-flight golf for the first time in two years because of Covid restrictions, and the expectation is that any tournament will return to Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling.
A spokesman for the club said it was “working hard with various stakeholders to bring back the Hong Kong Open”.
“We are certainly very keen to stage the historic international championship once again at Fanling, as soon as the Covid situation is contained,” he said. “As the oldest professional sports event in Hong Kong, we very much look forward to seeing it return as one of the city’s major sporting attractions.”
