Asian Tour resumes next month, S'pore to host two events

Golf's Asian Tour resumes next month after a lengthy coronavirus hiatus, with four tournaments planned in Thailand and Singapore in the coming months, organisers said yesterday.

The Tour was halted following the Malaysia Open in March last year as Covid-19 prompted lockdowns and international border closures across the region.

The resumption starts on the Thai holiday island of Phuket with the US$1 million (S$1.4m) Blue Canyon Championship from Nov 25-28, followed by the Laguna Phuket Championship from Dec 2-5. Fully vaccinated travellers can visit Phuket without quarantining.

There will be two more tournaments in Singapore next January over consecutive weeks, the Tour said, without giving further details.

The SMBC Singapore Open was originally scheduled for January this year, but organisers said then that they had to postpone the US$1m tournament by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

All tournaments will be played in "bubbles", and players will need to be fully vaccinated to compete.

Resuming the Tour has been challenging due to "our reach across many countries and each of their Covid-related protocols," said Asian Tour commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant.

Previous attempts to restart the Asian Tour were scuppered by fresh virus outbreaks across the region, which has been far slower to tee off than its United States and European counterparts. - AFP