Omega will be official sponsor of Asian PGA
Omega will be official sponsor of Asian PGA
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Swiss watch-manufacturing giant Omega will become the official sponsor of the inaugural Asian PGA Tour in a deal said to be worth several million dollars, the regional golfing body said yesterday.
The sponsorship agreement, the biggest in Asian golf outside Japan, means the Asian PGA's tour will now be known as the Omega Tour.
A golf official close to the deal said the value of the contract was at the "medium-end of a seven-figure deal".
The three-year sponsorship deal is an important vote of confidence in the Asian PGA, created last year after widespread discontent among Asian players at an existing tour run by the amateur Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), which has historically been dominated by non-Asian players.
The APGC intends to continue to run its own tour starting in November which will clash with several dates on the closing leg of the Omega Tour.
Since the Asian PGA launched its inaugural 20-stop tour in Thailand in June, Asian players have won all but one of the six events, and the top five players on the tour order of merit are Asian.
Asia's best-known golfer, Fiji's Vijay Singh, won the US$300,000 Passport Open in South Korea a fortnight ago.
Omega's tour sponsorship deal takes effect at the $500,000 Dubai Creek Open being played from October 5-8, the first of four majors on the tour.
European Tour
In London, Executive Director Ken Schofield confirmed Wednesday that the European golf tour will travel further afield next year than ever before.
The 1996 Tour will start in Singapore then move on to Perth, Australia, and to South Africa for two, or possibly three, weeks, before coming to Europe.
Prize money and several venues have still to be announced, but Schofield said: "It is shaping up to be our best schedule and I am quite optimistic that when we do finalize the year there will be an advancement in all major areas.
"The start of the schedule reflects our desire to provide tournament competition for tour members on the finest available courses in the most favorable conditions."