Rival Tours put Asian golfers in avoidable dilemma

REUTERS:  The Asian and OneAsia Tours went head-to-head with tournaments once again last week, with the rivals squabbling on social media websites while some of the players prioritised other circuits.

As Australian Scott Hend overcame a six-shot deficit to win the Asian Tour’s inaugural Chiangmai Golf Classic in Thailand on Sunday, South Korean Choi Ho-Sung scored a two-shot win at the Indonesia PGA Championship on the OneAsia circuit.

The Asian Tour’s $750,000 event offered more world rankings points while OneAsia’s co-sanctioned event with the Japan Golf Tour countered that with a greater prize pool of $1 million.

It was the second time this year that the rival circuits had events coinciding despite the vast gaps in both schedules that should mean clashing easily be avoided. Instead, both attempted to play up their importance.

“The Asian Tour has been a fantastic place for me to be in,” Hend said in an Asian Tour statement on Monday.

“This is the Tour in the region and in my eyes it is the only Tour in the region.”

The event, however, was unable to attract their reigning order of merit winner Thaworn Wiratchant, who opted to play in Indonesia instead of his homeland.

OneAsia were cooing about their capture, hailing the event for ‘bringing together one of the most powerful Asia-Pacific fields ever assembled.’

Officials from the two tours traded barbs on Twitter across the week arguing why the unconventional swinging Thai had chosen to play in Indonesia.

For Thaworn’s manager, the decision was easy.

“He wants to remain in the top 100 in the rankings,” Pimporn Rojsattarat told Reuters on Monday.

“This year he will concentrate on the Asian Tour and the Japan Golf Tour and if there is a week where there is no clash he can play elsewhere,” she added, pointing to the fact he is also a European Tour and OneAsia member.

While both tours push for supremacy, the Japan Golf Tour arguably sits above them in Asia with more money and usually more world rankings points. They also have less co-sanctioning.

Last year, the Asian Tour co-sanctioned the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open with the Japan Tour but that event has yet to appear on the 2013 schedule with the Japanese linking up with OneAsia to co-sanction their opening two events this year in Thailand and Indonesia.

The Asian Tour’s 2011 order of merit winner Juvic Pagunsan has prioritised the Japan Golf Tour and the Filipino finished tied second in Indonesia on Sunday.

Chinese number one Liang Wenchong is another who is prioritising the Japan Golf Tour in a crowded 2013 calendar after failing to play in enough Asian Tour events last year to count towards the order of merit title.

“Hopefully this year they won’t clash that much,” Liang’s manager Jacky Peng told Reuters on Monday after the Chinese finished tied seventh in Indonesia.

“The priority is still retaining his card in Japan and Europe and also the OneAsia events in China.

“The Asian Tour has a minimum of nine tournaments to count to the money list and last year we only did eight so we can’t make it.”

The Asian Tour heads to Delhi this week for the Panasonic Open India before they come back east for the Solaire Open in the Philippines and then the Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea.

The tour, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, then hosts the Indonesian Masters on 2-5 May, which goes head-to-head against OneAsia’s next event - the Volvo China Open.