Asian Tour ‘doing the best it can’
Regional circuit rebuffs suggestions that they have taken their eye off the ball
THE Asian Tour has rebuffed suggestions that they have shifted their focus away from ensuring greater participation for their members in the events on their annual schedule.
This was the response from Asian Tour chief operating officer Cho Minn Thant when it was put to him that the number of tournaments in which the regional players enjoyed “full field status” was dwindling.
A full field event, it is understood, is one whereby 90 or more players are drawn from the Asian Tour and as things stand, there has only been one such tournament since the beginning of January.
Given the present scenario, there will not be another one until June 7, unless there is a change to the schedule and one or more is added to the calendar.
To this end, Cho said: “We (the Asian Tour) haven’t set all the venues and exact dates as yet because what you see on the website now is probably only about 70% of the tournaments that we are going to have this year.
“We are going to stage 14 or 15 full field tournaments this season, which is similar to last year’s schedule – so there is no decline there. It’s just a matter of working on the events and getting confirmation from the promoters.
“Throughout the course of the
year we’ll be announcing the (additional) dates and venues as we go along.
“Also, rest assured the guys who come through qualifying school and country exempt players will get to play the majority of the full field events.”
Cho added: “That has always been our challenge as the Asian Tour – to balance full field events with the co-sanctioned events.
“We are in a unique position in that we are the only Tour of the International Golf Federation (IGF) that co-sanctions events with all the other member Tours – Japan Golf Tour, South Africa, Australia, PGA Tour and the European Tour.”
Speaking of the players who are just starting out with an aim to break on the big stage, Cho said: “Obviously as a first-year professional coming through qualifying school and country exemption, it is tough the first season and the first year must be treated as an opportunity to get into the top-60. Once you get into the top-60 you’ll get your (playing) card and it opens a lot of doors to get into the bigger events.”
There are 13 tournaments remaining on the schedule this season and of those, five are full field events and eight co-sanctioned events.
Cho said that they would “definitely be adding a few more events to the calendar”.
This week, Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid announced that six PGM Tour players would be accepted at country exemptions on the Asian Tour this season.
“They are Shahriffuddin Ariffin, R. Nachimuthu, Arie Irawan, Sukree Othman, Khor Kheng Hwai and Kemarol Baharin, who topped the 2017 Order of Merit in that order.
“It is good to see that the Asian Tour recognises our players and have given them the opportunity to try and further their careers on the regional circuit,” said Sarji, who made the announcement at the launching of the PGM Tour Yearbook.
Eighteen-year-old Shahriffuddin was presented with a Green Jacket for topping the Order of Merit and earning the title of PGM Tour Player of the Year.