[Courtesy of Asian Tour]
According to Asian Tour, the International Series will kick off in Thailand in March followed by events in Britain, South Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East, China, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Asian Tour will stage its first tournament in Britain in June 2022, the week before the US Open.
Asian Tour and LIV Golf Investments held a press conference at Saudi Arabia's Royal Greens Golf and Country Club on February 2 and revealed plans for their new golf tournament series. The press conference venue was held where Asian Tour's season-opener "PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers" is being staged.
Norman, also known by his nickname of "The Shark," emphasized how golf can benefit parts of the world by boosting growth and development and said: "We now have the opportunity to do that in the Asia Pacific region and the Middle East with this incredible investment platform." The International Series will be fully integrated into Asian Tour's 2022~2023 schedule. Asian Tour said that the new tournament series was designed to attract new players, fans, and commercial interest to help stabilize the professional golf industry.
"We are on the threshold of a new era for Asian golf," said Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and CEO, Asian Tour. "The International Series is a new upper-tier of elite events, the likes of which the region has not seen before, that will mark the start of a phenomenal period of growth for the Asian Tour. It also signifies the beginning of our relationship with our new strategic partner LIV Golf Investments and its CEO Greg Norman."
The first International Series event will be held as a four-day tournament at Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin, Thailand on March 3. The next tournament event will be staged at London's Centurion Club in June with a $2 million purse. The International Series will visit South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Middle East, China, Singapore, and Hong Kong during the second half of 2022.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
