Unrest to blame as PGA pulls pin on HK

THE PGA Tour Series-China is cancelling next month’s tournament in Hong Kong because of civil unrest and safety concerns.

The season was supposed to end October 17-20 at Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club in Hong Kong.

Instead, the 13th and final tournament will be held October 10-13 at the Macau Championship.

Hong Kong is in the fourth month of protests that occur every weekend.

And some of the protests have been violent.

The protests started out as opposition to a proposed extradition law and have expanded to include demands for greater democracy.

Last weekend, protesters threw gasoline bombs beforethe police responded with tear gas.

Greg Carlson, the executive director of PGA Tour SeriesChina, said that safety had been at the forefront of the decision.

“We have analysed this situation from every angle, and as a group we determined that cancelling the 2019 Clearwater Bay Open is the best decision,” he said.

Carlson said the tour looked into an alternate site for the tournament without finding one it deemed suitable.

He described Macau as a vibrant part of Asia and the tour had a good experience at Caesars Golf Macau last year.

Because of the late change, the prizemoney in Macau will increase by 500,000 Renminbi ($A100,000) to 2.1 million ($A435,000).

The leading five players from the China tour earn status on the Korn Ferry Tour, the step below PGA Tour membership.

Max McGreevy of the United States leads the money list in China.