Asia Braces for Golfing Bonanza

Asia is gearing up for a series of three tournaments that promises to bring some of the best golfers in the world to the region.

The action starts in the first week of November with the Singapore Open, followed by the HSBC Champions tournament in China and ends with the Hong Kong Open.

The Singapore Open is distinctive in that it is not co-sanctioned by any other tour. It is solely part of the Asian Tour but still manages to offer $4 million in prize money and boast a field that includes Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, defending champion Adam Scott, Choi Kyung-ju (KJ Choi) and Charles Howell III.

The tournament is sponsored by Barclays and is held at the Sentosa Golf Club, situated on Sentosa Island, which is earmarked as the future hub for casino gambling and entertainment in Southeast Asia.

Argentina’s Angel Cabrera, Reteif Goosen, Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh will join Els and Mickelson at the HSBC Champions event in Sheshan, China.

The tournament is a $5 million affair won last year by Korean Yang Yong-eun. It is denoted in the Asian Tour website as a “Special Event” with no details about sanctioning.

It is the richest tournament in Asia, though still falls a long way short of the prize money offered on the US PGA Tour.

The Hong Kong Open, sponsored by UBS, is one of the oldest professional golf tournaments in Asia with Canadian lefty Mike Weir leading the challenge at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling.

He will be joined by Choi, Goosen and Trevor Immelman, the 2006 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, in the event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.

The bonanza means that Asia will see two of the 2007 season’s four major winners in Cabrera and Harrington.


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