Asian Tour

Last updated

Asian Tour
Current season, competition or edition:
Golf current event.svg 2024 Asian Tour
Asian Tour logo.svg
FormerlyAsian PGA Tour
Omega Tour
Davidoff Tour
Sport Golf
Founded1994
First season1995
CEO Cho Minn Thant
DirectorJimmy Masrin
CountriesBased in Asia [lower-alpha 1]
Most titlesOrder of Merit titles:
Flag of Thailand.svg Thongchai Jaidee (3)
Tournament wins:
Flag of Thailand.svg Thaworn Wiratchant (18)
Related
competitions		 Asian Development Tour
Official website http://www.asiantour.com/

The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan (which has its own Japan Golf Tour). It is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Official World Golf Ranking points.

Contents

The Asian Tour is administered from 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 chairman of the board is the Indonesian businessman Jimmy Masrin.

History

The Asian PGA was formed in July 1994 at a meeting in Hong Kong attended by PGA representatives from eight countries. The first season of the APGA Omega Tour, as it was known for sponsorship reasons, was played in 1995 and within a few years it had supplanted the existing tour in the region, the Asia Golf Circuit that was run by the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, as the leading golf tour in Asia outside of Japan. In 1998 the Asian Tour became the sixth member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. [1] Under a new sponsorship deal, between 1999 and 2003 the tour was known as the Davidoff Tour, before adopting its current name in 2004.

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, [2] which is also the home to what was at that time the tour's richest sole sanctioned tournament, the Singapore Open.

In 2009 a rival tour, the OneAsia Tour, was established. Relations between the two tours are hostile.

In 2010, the Asian Tour launched the Asian Development Tour (ADT) as a developmental circuit. Five events were played the first year. By 2015 the tour had expanded to holding 28 tournaments with US$2.2 million of prize money.

Players

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).

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.

Among the ways to obtain an Asian Tour card is to be among the top 35 (including ties) at the Tour's qualifying school, finishing in the top 5 of the Asian Development Tour Order of Merit, and placing in the top 60 of the previous season's Order of Merit. The winner of the Asian Tour Order of Merit also receives entry into The Open Championship.

Tournaments and prize money

Each year the Asian Tour co-sanctions a number of events with the European Tour, with these events offering higher prize funds than most of the other tournaments on the tour as a result. While most of these tournaments have been in Asia, the Omega European Masters in Switzerland has been co-sanctioned from 2009 to 2017. In addition, the two tours sometimes tri-sanction events with the Sunshine Tour or PGA Tour of Australasia in those tours' respective regions. The Asian Tour also co-sanctions tournaments with the Japan Golf Tour.

Since 2008, 50 percent of players' earnings from the US Open and The Open Championship have counted towards the Asian Tour's Order of Merit. The two Opens were singled out from the other majors because they have open qualifying which Asian Tour members may enter. [3]

Asia's richest event, the HSBC Champions, was first played in November 2005 with a prize fund of $5 million. The tournament is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the earnings were counted towards the money list for its first three years before it became a World Golf Championships event in 2009. From 2009 to present, the earnings are not counted towards the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

Another limited-field event in Malaysia, the CIMB Classic, was launched in 2010 with a $6 million purse. The first Asian Tour event to be co-sanctioned by the US-based PGA Tour began as an unofficial event on that tour, but it started to offer official money and FedEx Cup points in 2013.

In 2016, the tour's richest sole-sanctioned event was the Venetian Macao Open, with a prize fund of $1.1 million.

Starting in 2022, the Saudi International became its signature event and became its richest sole-sanctioned event. That same year, the International Series was launched, with the Order of Merit winner earning a spot in the LIV Golf League.

Order of Merit winners

SeasonWinnerPoints
2023 Flag of the United States.svg Andy Ogletree 2,129
SeasonWinnerPrize money (US$)
2022 Flag of the United States.svg Sihwan Kim 627,458
2020–21–22 Flag of South Korea.svg Tom Kim 507,553
2019 Flag of Thailand.svg Jazz Janewattananond 1,058,524
2018 Flag of India.svg Shubhankar Sharma 755,994
2017 Flag of Malaysia.svg Gavin Green 585,813
2016 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Scott Hend 1,004,792
2015 Flag of India.svg Anirban Lahiri 1,139,084
2014 Flag of the United States.svg David Lipsky 713,901
2013 Flag of Thailand.svg Kiradech Aphibarnrat 1,127,855
2012 Flag of Thailand.svg Thaworn Wiratchant (2)738,047
2011 Flag of the Philippines.svg Juvic Pagunsan 788,299
2010 Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg Noh Seung-yul 822,361
2009 Flag of Thailand.svg Thongchai Jaidee (3)981,932
2008 Flag of India.svg Jeev Milkha Singh (2)1,452,702
2007 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenchong 532,590
2006 Flag of India.svg Jeev Milkha Singh 591,884
2005 Flag of Thailand.svg Thaworn Wiratchant 510,122
2004 Flag of Thailand.svg Thongchai Jaidee (2)381,930
2003 Flag of India.svg Arjun Atwal 284,018
2002 Flag of India.svg Jyoti Randhawa 266,263
2001 Flag of Thailand.svg Thongchai Jaidee 353,060
2000 Flag of England.svg Simon Dyson 282,370
1999 Flag of Myanmar (1974-2010).svg Kyi Hla Han 204,210
1998 Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg Kang Wook-soon (2)150,772
1997 Flag of the United States.svg Mike Cunning 170,619
1996 Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg Kang Wook-soon 183,787
1995 Flag of the Republic of China.svg Lin Keng-chi 177,856

Awards

SeasonPlayer of the YearRookie of the Year
2023 Flag of the United States.svg Andy Ogletree Flag of Hong Kong.svg Kho Taichi
SeasonPlayers' Player of the YearRookie of the Year
2022 Flag of the United States.svg Sihwan Kim Flag of South Korea.svg Kim Bi-o
2020–21–22 No awards
2019 Flag of Thailand.svg Jazz Janewattananond Flag of Thailand.svg Sadom Kaewkanjana
2018 Flag of the United States.svg John Catlin Flag of South Korea.svg Park Sang-hyun
2017 Flag of Malaysia.svg Gavin Green Flag of the United States.svg Micah Lauren Shin
2016 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Scott Hend Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Scott Vincent
2015 Flag of India.svg Anirban Lahiri (2) Flag of Thailand.svg Natipong Srithong
2014 Flag of India.svg Anirban Lahiri Flag of Australia (converted).svg Cameron Smith
2013 Flag of Thailand.svg Kiradech Aphibarnrat Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Richard T. Lee
2012 Flag of Thailand.svg Thaworn Wiratchant (2) Flag of Japan.svg Masanori Kobayashi
2011 Flag of the Philippines.svg Juvic Pagunsan Flag of South Africa.svg Tjaart van der Walt
2010 Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg Noh Seung-yul Flag of Sweden.svg Rikard Karlberg
2009 Flag of Thailand.svg Thongchai Jaidee (3) Flag of India.svg Chinnaswamy Muniyappa
2008 Flag of India.svg Jeev Milkha Singh (2) Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg Noh Seung-yul
2007 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenchong Flag of Australia (converted).svg Scott Hend
2006 Flag of India.svg Jeev Milkha Singh Flag of the Philippines.svg Juvic Pagunsan
2005 Flag of Thailand.svg Thaworn Wiratchant Flag of India.svg Shiv Kapur
2004 Flag of Thailand.svg Thongchai Jaidee (2) Flag of Australia (converted).svg Adam Groom
2003 Flag of India.svg Arjun Atwal Flag of Australia (converted).svg Marcus Both
2002 Flag of India.svg Jyoti Randhawa Flag of the United States.svg Kevin Na
2001 Flag of Thailand.svg Thongchai Jaidee Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg Ted Oh
2000 Flag of England.svg Simon Dyson Flag of England.svg Simon Dyson
1999 Flag of Myanmar (1974-2010).svg Kyi Hla Han Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kenny Druce
1998 Flag of South Africa.svg Chris Williams Flag of England.svg Ed Fryatt
1997 Flag of Thailand.svg Prayad Marksaeng Flag of the United States.svg Ted Purdy
1996 Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg Kang Wook-soon Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jeff Wagner
1995 Flag of the Republic of China.svg Lin Keng-chi Flag of India.svg Arjun Atwal

Leading career money winners

The table below shows the leading money winners on the Asian Tour as of 16 October 2016. The official site has a top 100 list which also shows each player's winnings for 1995 to 2016. [4]

RankPlayerPrize money (US$)
1 Flag of Thailand.svg Thongchai Jaidee 5,485,537
2 Flag of Thailand.svg Thaworn Wiratchant 4,493,844
3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Scott Hend 3,795,696
4 Flag of Thailand.svg Prayad Marksaeng 3,533,551
5 Flag of India.svg Jeev Milkha Singh 3,487,029
6 Flag of India.svg Jyoti Randhawa 3,455,859
7 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenchong 3,426,632
8 Flag of India.svg Anirban Lahiri 3,034,434
9 Flag of Thailand.svg Prom Meesawat 2,776,891
10 Flag of Thailand.svg Chapchai Nirat 2,664,047

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Schedules have also included events in Australia, Egypt, England, Fiji, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Switzerland.

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References

  1. ↑ Robinson, Spencer (16 July 1998). "Asian PGA welcomed into world club". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "Asian Tour Moves to New Home on Sentosa" (Press release). Asian Tour. 14 August 2007.
  3. ↑ "Major Incentive for Tour Stars" (Press release). Asian Tour. 12 February 2008. Archived from the original on 27 May 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2008.
  4. ↑ "Career Earnings". Asian Tour. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
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