Asia takes centre stage

HELLO EVERYBODY, THIS IS MATT HERE AND EVERY WEEK I WILL BE PUBLISHING A BLOG ABOUT THE WORLD OF GOLF.

I HAVE PLAYED GOLF SINCE 1995 AND ATTENDED MYERSCOUGH COLLEGE TO STUDY FOR A FOUNDATION DEGREE IN GOLF AND LEISURE MANAGEMENT FROM 2003 TO 2006. I HAVE ALSO WORKED AS A CADDIE AT ROYAL COUNTY DOWN GOLF CLUB FOR TWO SEASONS IN 2004 AND 2006, AND IN 2007 I WORKED AS A GOLF RETAIL ASSISTANT AT THE GLENEAGLES HOTEL, AND MOST RECENTLY AS A CADDIE AT ST ANDREWS LINKS INCLUDING CADDYING IN THE ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2011.

ALONG WITH VOLUNTEERING AT THE 2004 AND 2006 ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP AND 2006 BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, AS WELL AS ATTENDING THE 2005 HSBC WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP, 2006 EUROPEAN OPEN, 2007 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP AND 2010 RYDER CUP AS A SPECTATOR, AND WATCHING GOLF ON TELEVISION EVERY WEEKEND OF THE YEAR I AM WELL PLACED AND HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE TO PROVIDE A UNIQUE VIEW ON THE WORLD OF GOLF.

Asia, the world's most populous continent, with the fastest growing middle class in the world, and the centre of the golfing universe for the next five weeks.

The growth of Asian golf has been slow, a lot slower in comparison to Southern Africa, Australasia and especially Europe and North America, but golf in Asia has a long and rich history, in contradiction to the image portrayed by some in the media who seem to think it has been an overnight explosion.

The oldest tournament in Asia is the Philippine Open, first played in 1913. The Japan PGA Championship was first played in 1926, and the Japan Open Golf Championship was first played in 1927, the same year as the first edition of the Ryder Cup. The Hong Kong Open (1959), Singapore Open (1961), Malaysian Open (1962), Indian Open (1964) and Thailand Open (1965) followed as tournament golf expanded gradually across the continent. But it was not until 1973 that the first organised series of tournaments was created, with the formation of the Japan Golf Tour. The tour evolved into one of the richest in the world, and from the mid-seventies attracted the world's greatest golfers, with the creation of several major international events including the Taiheiyo Masters (1972), ABC Japan vs USA golf matches (1973), Dunlop Phoenix Tournament (1974) and Casio World Open (1981).

Aside from the new international tournaments formed by the Japan Golf Tour, the world's best had visited the continent for the annual World Cup of Golf in 1957 (Japan), 1966 (Japan), 1969 (Singapore), 1975 (Thailand), 1977 (Philippines) and 1983 (Indonesia).

Despite the numerous national Open championships now played across mainland Asia, it wasn't until 1995 that a formally organised series was created, the Asian Tour began over 20 years after the Japan Golf Tour, and included tournaments across Asia, apart from those played in Japan. 1995 was a big year for golf on the Asian continent, with China hosting its first ever World Cup of Golf, at the world's biggest golf club – Mission Hills, in Shenzhen. The Volvo China Open was first played in the same year, with Volvo, prolific golf sponsors in Europe, determined to create a national championship comparable to the great championships of the world, in China.

One of the most crucial tournaments played in the Asia-Pacific region was the Johnnie Walker Classic, first played in 1990, and eventually co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours, and in 2005 tri-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia. The tournament attracted most of the world's best golfers to the region, competing in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, Taiwan, China and India. 9 of the 18 editions were won by former World Number One golfers, with Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Greg Norman and Fred Couples all claiming a title which evolved into the biggest in the region by the mid-to-late 1990's.

By far the most famous edition took place at the Blue Canyon Country Club, in Phuket, Thailand in January 1998. Tiger Woods was victorious in arguably his greatest ever comeback, and arguably the greatest showdown the European Tour has ever seen. Woods, the record-breaking Masters Champion, was playing in Thailand to honour the heritage of his family, particularly his Thai mother. The World Number One had won the Asian Honda Classic at the Thai Country Club by 10 shots in February 1997, and was looking for a second successive title in the homeland of his mother.

The 1998 Johnnie Walker Classic had assembled one of the greatest fields ever to play in Asia, with Nick Faldo (the most successful golfer of his era), Ernie Els, Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Jose Maria Olazabal launching the European Tour season in Thailand. Ernie Els, the U.S. Open Champion dominated the tournament, holding a share of the lead after the first round, opening up a 3 shot lead after 36 holes and holding onto a one shot lead over Nick Faldo following the third round. The 'Big Easy' had left Tiger Woods in the dust, leading him by 11 shots after 2 rounds, and 8 shots going into the final round.

FINAL ROUND REPORT FROM GOLFTODAY.CO.UK

World number one Tiger Woods added another sensational chapter to his remarkable career story when he won a battle of major champions against Ernie Els on Sunday. On a nerve-tingling last day, the U.S. Masters champion came from eight shots behind in the Johnnie Walker Classic with a 65, then beat South Africa's U.S. Open champion Els on the second hole of a playoff with a 15-foot birdie putt.

He had predicted he would win even when he trailed Els by 11 shots after two rounds. "I've never done anything like this as a pro and I thought I'd need a 62 to win, so my comeback in the last round I didn't think was that amazing because I didn't think I could win,'' Woods said. "But then Ernie and all the guys backed off." After three indifferent rounds at the Blue Canyon club, Woods produced a thrilling seven-under-par 65, only one short of the course record as Els, leader for three days, faltered at the end to drop into a playoff as both finished on 279, nine under par. Defending champion Els, who closed with a 73 after shooting 74 in the third round, had to sink a 15-foot birdie putt on the last in the final round just to get into a shootout before Woods's birdie at the second playoff hole earned him the 133,330 pounds ($222,000) first prize.

Woods needed a five-foot save at the first sudden-death hole, the 18th, but then showed his vastly improved form in the final round was no fluke as he won the battle by sinking his birdie putt on the same hole for victory. It was the 22-year-old Woods' eighth professional success in only 17 months, including his four U.S wins last year as he earned more than $2 million prize money. A closing nine of 31, five under par allowed Woods to set a target which must have intimidated Els, who struggled badly coming home with three bogeys including dropped shots on 16 and 17.

The pair finished a stroke ahead of another South African, Retief Goosen, but it was one of the players a further shot behind who also threw away the chance of victory to let in Woods. Australian Peter O'Malley was 10-under and one ahead of the field going to the 17th but double-bogeyed the par-three and drove into a lake to bogey the last.

Chinese New Year celebrates the Year of the Tiger and his stunning feat could be an omen for the start of the year, it was suggested.

"It's really just another year. It just happens to have my name on it," said the American, who punched the air in excitement as he finished off the world number three. "When Ernie bogeyed the 17th and hit his second on the 18th I decided not to even practice because I'd had his putt earlier and didn't think there was any way he'd make it.

"I was in the clubhouse, but when it went in I immediately bolted for the practice tee. Then when I got there they didn't have any practice balls right away. I only had chance to hit a few sand irons and eight irons and five drivers. I made sure I hit the last three as hard as I could to get the nervous energy out of me, but I was pretty pumped up at the first playoff hole. I hit a real big drive and then went over the green. I then kinda hung in there by sinking the par putt. It was mighty important."

Delighted at his victory, Woods looked forward to the four majors again. "It's nice to win but I want my game to be peaking for all the majors," he added. "When you look at all the great players, that's what they all focused on. It's hard to keep your game for all four but they did it and I want to." The whole idea is to keep getting better each year and I'd love to win every time I go out. But if I improve every year it will be a great career and that's what I'm striving for."

"Last year I had some faults and put them right and this week has finally paid dividends for doing that." Els acknowledged he had thrown it away after leading on 12-under through only two rounds. "It all started to go wrong at the 16th in regulation play where I three-putted," he said. "I went through the green on the 17th and hit a poor chip. The birdie at the last was the only putt I've made over the last two days. The rest is history. I had chance on Saturday to close it but didn't keep it going but it was really amazing what Tiger did. But I should never have found myself in a playoff. I wouldn't have been if I had played half decent over the closing holes today. But what the hell."

The 1998 Johnnie Walker Classic was a moment comparable to the finale to the 1989 Football League, the match between Liverpool and Arsenal exposed the vast potential of live league football on television, and lead the way for the multi-million pound Sky TV contract for the Premier League in 1992. The remarkable climax to the Johnnie Walker Classic showed the possibilities for world class golf in Asia, and lead the way for the European Tour to expand further into Asia, and the first ever co-sanctioned European Tour / Asian Tour event was staged in 1999, the Benson and Hedges Malaysian Open was the only Asian based event on the European Tour that year, but it would not be long until more events would be added.

The European Tour started co-sanctioning events with other tours in 1995, with the Lexington South African PGA Championship launching a highly successful and lucrative programme that has helped all of the tours outside of the USA grow. Another way in which the European Tour has grown into Asia over the last 30 years is by holding tournaments in the Middle East, particularly Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai.

As this table will illustrate, Asia has become more and more important to the make-up of the European Tour International Schedule.

Asian events on the European Tour since 1998 (number of tournaments played in the continent of Europe)

1998	3 (28)	Thailand, Qatar and Dubai
1999	3 (32)	Malaysia, Qatar and Dubai World Cup also played in Malaysia
2000	3 (31)	Malaysia, Qatar and Dubai
2001	5 (29)	Qatar, Dubai, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore World Cup also played in Japan
2002	6 (30)	Qatar, Dubai, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong
2003	6 (30)	Qatar, Dubai, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong
2004	5 (29)	Qatar, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia
2005	10 (28)	Qatar, Dubai, 4 in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia
2006	13 (27)	Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Dubai, 5 in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore
2007	12 (30)	Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Dubai, 4 in China, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Malaysia World Cup also played in China
2008	12 (27)	Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Dubai, 3 in China, Hong Kong, 2 in India, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia World Cup also played in China
2009	14 (26)	2 in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, 3 in China, 2 in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore World Cup also played in China
2010	11 (26)	2 in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, India, Malaysia, 2 in China, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong
2011	13 (27)	2 in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, South Korea, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, 2 in Malaysia and 2 in China World Cup also played in China
2012	12 (21)	2 in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, 3 in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, South Korea and Malaysia

The European Tour (in particular) has expanded into Asia for 3 key reasons. Firstly to develop the game at the grass roots level, to attract a new audience of potential golfers and to ensure that young Asians aspire to play on the European Tour. Secondly to expand the schedule, the European Tour would essentially start in April and end in the second week of October if it just played within Europe. Co-sanctioning events in Asia with the Asian Tour enables the tour to have a year-round schedule and makes the tour more competitive and attractive than it would otherwise be. And thirdly, and perhaps the most compelling reason for expansion into Asia, is gaining sponsorship and creating partnerships with businesses, brands and organisations in China, Korea and Japan. Four of the last five weeks on the European Tour feature events with prize funds of $6,000,000 to $8,000,000 in China, Singapore and Dubai.

The European Tour has been joined over the last few years in Asia by the PGA Tour. The HSBC Champions was upgraded to World Golf Championships status in 2009, and in 2010 the first ever co-sanctioned tournament between the PGA Tour and Asian Tour took place in Malaysia. The CIMB Asia-Pacific Classic, played at the Mines Country Club, will become a fully fledged FedEx Cup event in 2012-13, featuring a fully co-sanctioned field of golfers from the PGA Tour and Asian Tour. Tiger Woods will play in the tournament for the first time this week and returns to the scene of one of his greatest ever performances, at the 1999 World Cup of Golf.

From Golftoday.co.uk World number one Tiger Woods earned favourites the United States their 22nd World Cup title, this one by five strokes from Spain on 23-under-par 545, on Sunday.

With Woods's team mate Mark O'Meara faltering, Spanish playing partners Miguel Martin and Santiago Luna had overtaken the Americans by the eighth hole but then the rampant Woods steered his team home with four consecutive birdies from the turn.

Woods's six-under-par 65 for a 21-under-par 263 four-round total helped him to win the individual International Trophy by nine strokes, the best winning margin in 45 World Cups.

It was the world number one's 10th win of the year, his fourth in five weeks and fifth in his last six tournaments.

The CIMB Classic will be played opposite the new BMW Masters, part of the European Tour this coming week, as pretty much all of the world's best golfers compete in two tournaments, in two different Asian countries in the same week. An unprecedented week for golf, as ASIA TAKES CENTRE STAGE.

CIMB Asia-Pacific Classic (MALAYSIA) and BMW Masters (CHINA) 25-28 October

The BMW Masters is an evolution of the tournament first played last year at Lake Malaren in Shanghai, an unofficial tournament won by Rory McIlroy. This year will feature a 78-player field playing for a first prize of $2,000,000 from a prize fund of $7,000,000 – the richest first prize in any tour event and the richest sole-sanctioned European Tour event after the DPWORLD Tour Championship.

38 of the world's top 100, 4 of the world's top 5 including RORY MCILROY, LUKE DONALD, LEE WESTWOOD, JUSTIN ROSE, LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN, CHARL SCHWARTZEL AND BRANDEN GRACE will tee it up at Lake Malaren, and with a €1.5million first prize available the Race to Dubai could change dramatically by Sunday evening. Lee Westwood could, with a win, go from 12^th place to 1^st, setting up a really fascinating final World Golf Championship of the season at Mission Hills.

World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions (CHINA) 1-4 November

The first week of November in China has become a week synonymous with golf, specifically the HSBC CHAMPIONS, a tournament first played in 2005 as a tournament sanctioned by four of the world's leading tours (European Tour, Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia) and the first tournament of the 2006 European Tour International Schedule. Established as a Worldwide Champion of Champions Tournament, the HSBC Champions instantly attracted many of the world's best golfers, including the World Number One Tiger Woods, who,coming off one of his best ever seasons, was red-hot favourite to claim the title. He was upset by English Ryder Cup star David Howell, and it wouldn't be the last time Woods was upset by a lesser-light in Shanghai.

In 2005 Yang Yong-Eun (then ranked outside the world's top 100) delivered a 'Shanghai Surprise' as he won by 2 from Woods. The tournament then attracted Phil Mickelson to China, and he won after a dramatic final day and play-off in 2007. Sergio Garcia then won in a play-off in 2008 and then the HSBC Champions was upgraded to World Golf Championships status for the 2009 edition. Mickelson claimed a second win in the HSBC in its first year as a WGC, and Francesco Molinari and Martin Kaymer have since followed in the footsteps of the American by being victorious over the Sheshan International Golf Club's championship layout.

For the 2012 edition Mission Hills will assume the role of hosts to the years final World Golf Championship, following 5 World Cups. Despite the unusual absence of the World Number One (McIlroy) and World Number Two (Tiger), the 2012 HSBC Champions will have the majority of the world's best golfers in attendance and we are set for another superb week of golf in China, the emerging super-power in worldwide golf.

Barclays Singapore Open (SINGAPORE) 8-11 November

Theoretically Rory McIlroy could clinch the Race to Dubai at Sentosa, a win or top 2 finish in the BMW Masters, coupled with a win in Singapore could give the World Number One an unassailable lead with 2 events remaining. But to be victorious at Sentosa will not be easy as for yet another year the Barclays Singapore Open has attracted one of the strongest fields assembled outside of the United States. Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen and Adam Scott will all be trying to claim Asia's richest national open title, and Oosthuizen has extra motivation, knowing a win will keep in in the hunt to overtake the Ulsterman at the top of the Race to Dubai.

UBS Hong Kong Open (HONG KONG) 15-18 November

Following his fantastic final hole shot to win the Hong Kong Open in 2011, and his record of not being outside the top 4 in the event, Rory McIlroy returns to Fanling, the stand-out player in a field that will primarily be focused on either qualifying for Dubai or keeping their card, McIlroy will be red hot favourite. Hong Kong is one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities, and the event has grown in stature over the years it has been a co-sanctioned tournament with the European Tour, McIlroy considers it one of his favourite tournaments to play in. “That bunker shot is one of the best shots I have ever played,” reflected McIlroy. “It doesn’t get much better than holing a tough bunker shot on the 72nd hole on a Sunday afternoon to win a tournament – it was one of the best feelings I have had in my career, and I will never forget the crowd’s reaction. It was an amazing win.
“I can’t wait to get back there and try to defend my title. I have said it for a long time now that the UBS Hong Kong Open is among my favourite tournaments anywhere in the world.
“I absolutely love the city – it is just one of those places that has a great energy around it, and there is so much to do away from the golf course.
“Then you have the golf course itself, which is another major draw for me. It is one of the courses that I loved from the first time I played in 2008, and I just have so much fun playing around there.
“When you find a course that you love going back to you always tend to play well there, and that has been the case for me at Fanling.”

DPWORLD Tour Championship (DUBAI) 22-25 November

And then it is Dubai. Dubai is the new global home of the European Tour, managing the global operations of the tour and the home to the new European Tour Performance Institute at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Dubai has been the flagship destination for the European Tour's global and more specifically Asian expansion.

The European Tour first visited Dubai in 1989 for the inaugural Dubai Desert Classic, played at the Emirates Golf Club on the Majlis Course, the first grass course in Dubai. The DDC has evolved into one of the European Tour's leading tournaments, but now it isn't even the leading tournament in Dubai, let alone the Middle East, such is the evolution that has taken place in the last 20 years of the European Tour. When the PGA Tour launched the FedEx Cup in 2007 it was a wake up call for the European Tour, they needed to do something to stop their tour from becoming a side show, and they needed to re-brand their product. And so the Race to Dubai was born. The Dubai World Championship, now the DPWORLD Tour Championship, is the final event of the Race to Dubai, replacing the Volvo Masters. It has the same qualification criteria, the top 60 money earners, but a much bigger prize fund and global profile.

Six tournaments, five countries, one continent and $36.1million in prize money.

Asia is the stage for the world's greatest golfers to create one of the most dramatic finishes to the golf season ever seen.