NEW DELHI — The Asian Tour will add a $3 million Thailand tournament to next year's calendar and hopes to offer more than $50 million in prize money by 2017, chief executive Mike Kerr said.
The Thailand tournament, co-sanctioned by the European Tour and slated for February, was further proof of the Tour's robust health, Kerr told Reuters.
Chapchai Nirat of Thailand celebrates on the 18th green after winning the Asian Tour’s Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters at the Seri Selangor golf club in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The Asian Tour said Monday it will add a $3 million Thailand tournament to its calendar in 2015. (AFP photo / Asian Tour / Khalid Redza)
"In the last couple of months we have added four new events," Kerr said in a telephone interview. "We are projecting robust growth in 2015 and carry on in 2016. Next year, we're going to have around 30 events, which is a significant growth from this year.
"The total prize money this year is $40 million, next year it would be $45 million, which is more than 10% growth. We hope to break the $50 million mark in 2017."
The other events to be added to next year's calendar are the $1.3 million AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, tri-sanctioned by the Asian, European and South African 'Sunshine' tours, and the Vascory Classic in Malaysia. The Asian Tour also recently announced the new Dubai Open would be added at the end of this year's schedule.
Kerr was particularly happy with the tour's foray into the Middle East with the Dubai Open.
"It was important for us," he said. "Historically we've played in the Middle East but it was too long we did not play there. We will add more tournaments in the Middle East in future."
Kerr also envisaged a season-ending tournament on the lines of the US Tour's FedEx Cup or its European version "Race to Dubai," though on a smaller scale.
He pointed to the rise of Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Anirban Lahiri of India as reasons to be bullish about Asian golf. He also hailed the success of Noh Seung-yul and Hideki Matsuyama on the PGA Tour, and David Lipsky's victory in the co-sanctioned Omega European Masters.
"They are representing Asia very well. I think the players (in Asia) are of higher standards that we have ever seen," he said.
"Aphibarnrat, Lahiri, Lipsky - they are doing well and all of them are in their 20s. The strength and depth of the field is very good and the golfers are performing really well."