For one of my Fairway's shows in 1995 I went through my pals at the European Tour office and managed to hook up with a tournament official at the World Golf Championships at the inaugural event in China at the time on a sketchy phone line, and we did an interview in which he spoke passionately about the explosion that was about to take place in professional golf in Asia..
My how right he was. The LPGA Tour is in the midst of a 6 event swing in Asia and the Far East, their tour of course dominated by players from South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, and we have just recently been thrilled by the Presidents Cup also from South Korea.
This week round one is already in the books at the Hong Kong Open on the famous tight tree lined Fanling GC with Wei Chih Lu and Italian Andrea Pavan leading at -6 64. However stars like Justin Rose (-5 65) and Graeme McDowell (-4 66) and Dustin Johnson (-1 69) are in the field and they will soon be joined in Asia by stars like Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson, etal as they prepare to start the playoffs for the Race to Dubai...and Asia and the Middle East will be the setting...
Not the UK, not hot spots in Europe...Asia, the Middle East... how the game has changed in 20 years.
The Final Series begins on the Mediterranean coast at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal resort for the Turkish Airlines Open next weekend, a $7m purse up for grabs as the Turkish government strives to divert some of that lucrative European holiday golf business away from traditional resorts in Spain and Portugal.
All the stars will be in Shanghai for the WGC HSBC Champions at the Sheshan International GC worth $8.5 from November 5-8
The following week is still in Shanghai across town in that massive city of some 20 million people at the Lake Malaren GC for the BMW Masters worth a mere $7m
The grand finale moves to the Middle East headquarters of the European Tour for the DP World Tour Championship on the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai UAE, where the Race to Dubai winner will be crowned and bestowed with the lion's share of $10 and all the spoils that go with it. That all wraps up on November 22
If you think that's the end of it, remember after a little silly season with the likes of the Nedbank Golf Challenge and Tiger's World Golf Challenge....Australia comes calling with their version of the Masters, PGA Championship topped by the Aussie Open which kick started Jordan Spieth's fabulous 2015 campaign.
Golf is all over the world now and growing in places like India, Russia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, and it is highlighted for the next four weeks in places where most of the population didn't know what a seven iron was just 20 years ago !
It's all to play for with plenty of drama and excitement to come and I'll have it all for you right here and every Sunday morning on your radio at TSN1050 between 7-9am on the International Sports Report.
Bryan Angus
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