Setting Milestones In The Far East
The Asian Tour marks a historic return to the region
It has been a momentous period for the Asian Tour through our return to key tournaments within East Asia. I’m writing to you now from Seoul at the 37th GS Caltex Maekyung Open, where we are sanctioning this prestigious event for the first time since 2009!
Meanwhile, the 2018 Volvo China Open that happened the previous week marked a huge milestone for the Asian Tour, as we sanctioned China’s National Open following a 10 year-gap dating back to 2008! Our strong cooperation with the Volvo China Open demonstrated our full restoration of ties with the China Golf Association (CGA). Title sponsor Volvo was also delighted with the Asian Tour’s return because the Official World
Golf Ranking (OWGR) increased from 24 points in 2017 to 32 points in 2018 due to the strength our players brought to the field. We look forward to many years of collaboration with the CGA, Volvo and the European Tour.
The tournament was also memorable for Alexander Björk, the Swede held off the challenge of Spaniard Adrián Otaegui and reigning Hero Indian Open champion Matt Wallace to win his first European Tour title. The Asian Tour had nearly 50 members in the field, impressively, 28 of our players made the cut. A group of young stars did very well including 22 year old Jeunghun Wang, who finished tied-seventh, 25 year old Scott Vincent, who ended tied-11th and 21 year old Shubhankar Sharma, who fought through a stomach bug to finish in tied-14th. These performances continue the trend that started last year of strong results from members aged under 30 years old.
The results of these young players further justify the tagline we will use for phase three of our #whereitsat campaign to be launched this summer, “Tomorrow’s Stars Today.” The videos, which are currently in production, will showcase the skill and cool styles of our ultra-talented young stars, and I can’t wait to see them.
In addition to the next phase of the #whereitsat campaign, our fans can look forward to the many tournaments that we’ve newly added to our growing 2018 schedule such as the AB Bank Bangladesh Open, the Asia Pacific
Classic in China, the CNS Open Golf Championship in Pakistan and the Ho Tram Players Championship in Vietnam. In particular, our grand return to Pakistan after an 11 year hiatus will be another important milestone in this historic year for the Asian Tour.
Thank you once again for your support!