OneAsia Tour
OneAsia is a men's professional golf tour based in the Asia-Pacific region. The tour was founded in 2009 as a joint venture between the PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association, the Korean Golf Association and the Korean PGA. The Japan Golf Tour has been invited to participate in the project and co-sanctioned the 2012 Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open. OneAsia is a rival to the longer established Asian Tour, with which it has poor relations. In its first year, tournaments on the tour were allocated world ranking points as if they were PGA Tour of Australasia tournaments. Since 2010, the tour has had world ranking status in its own right.
Formation
In January 2009, it was announced that there would be a new series of events across the Asia-Pacific region, to be organised by the PGA of Australia in co-operation with China Golf Association, the Japan Golf Tour, the Korean Golf Association and the Korean PGA. The aim of these events would be to raise the profile of professional golf in the region, and compete with the likes of the European Tour. The series would initially comprise six events, three in China, two in Australia and one in South Korea, with plans to expand in later years.[1][2][3]
The introduction of the OneAsia series was not welcomed by the Asian Tour.[4] All of the six events announced for 2009 were existing tournaments, including some already sanctioned by the Asian Tour. One of them, the Pine Valley Beijing Open, was called off a few weeks before it was due to be held. The organisers officially attributed this decision to the state of the course and a clash of dates with The Players Championship on the PGA Tour, but some media commentators dismissed these reasons since the tournament had clashed with the Players Championship the previous year as well, and attributed the cancellation to sponsor discontent with the sanctioning changes.[5]
Following a meeting of the Official World Golf Rankings Committee at the Open Championship in July all OneAsia events have been awarded Official World Golf Ranking points.
Schedule
2009 season
The table below shows the schedule for the inaugural 2009 season.[6] The season originally comprised six tournaments, three in China, two in Australia and one in South Korea, but the Pine Valley Beijing Open was cancelled to leave just five.[5]
| Dates | Tournament | Location | Prize fund | Winner | OWGR points |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16–19 Apr | Volvo China Open | Beijing, China | USD2,200,000 |  Scott Strange (n/a)
|
18 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
| 7–10 May | Pine Valley Beijing Open | Beijing, China | USD1,200,000 | Tournament cancelled[5] | ||
| 10–13 Sept | Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open | South Korea | USD1,000,000 |  Bae Sang-moon (1)
|
14 | |
| 15–18 Oct | Midea China Classic | Guangzhou, China | USD500,000 |  Liang Wen-Chong (1)
|
6 | |
| 3–6 Dec | Australian Open | Sydney, Australia | USD1,200,000 | Adam Scott (n/a)
|
32 | Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia |
| 10–13 Dec | Australian PGA Championship | Sunshine Coast, Australia | USD1,200,000 | Robert Allenby (n/a)
|
26 | Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia |
2010 season
The table below shows the schedule for the 2010 season.[7] The initial announcement confirmed eleven tournaments, six more than the tour's inaugural season.[8]
2011 season
The table below shows the schedule for the 2011 season.[10]
2012 season
The table below shows the schedule for the 2012 season.[12]
2013 season
The table below shows the schedule for the 2013 season.[13]
Order of Merit winners
| Year | Winner | Country | Winnings (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Bi-o Kim | South Korea |
380,745 |
| 2011 | Andre Stolz | Australia |
464,812 |
| 2010 | Liang Wen-Chong | China |
560,737 |
| 2009 | Scott Strange | Australia |
505,784 |
The current Order of Merit list is [1] here.
References
- ^ "Australia backs big-money OneAsia Super Series". Shanghai Daily. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ "OneAsia series to vie with US, European tours, says commissioner". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ Hayes, Mark (13 March 2009). "Golfers to cash in". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ "Asian golfers reject 'super series'". Bangkok Post. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ a b c "OneAsia Tour's Pine Valley Beijing Open called off". Eurosport. 7April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) [dead link] - ^ "2009 OneAsia Schedule". OneAsia Tour. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
- ^ "2010 OneAsia Schedule". OneAsia Tour. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
- ^ "OneAsia 2010 Schedule Announced". OneAsia Tour. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-13. [dead link]
- ^ "OneAsia Tour axes China golf event". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
- ^ "2011 OneAsia Schedule". OneAsia Tour. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
- ^ "Weather forces cancellation of 2011 The Charity High1 Resort Open presented by SBS". OneAsia. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
- ^ "2012 OneAsia Schedule". OneAsia Tour. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
- ^ "2013 OneAsia Schedule". OneAsia Tour. Retrieved 2013-03-11.