The new European Tour event in India next year poses a major test of credibility for the regional professional governing body, the Asian Tour.
The professional circuit in Asia has grown tremendously over the past decade. However, it is still a work in progress and cannot compete with the European Tour, let alone the PGA Tour, in terms of prestige and prize money.
That is why Asian Tour chiefs will have to rely on the loyalty of the very golfers they nurtured to stand by them against what could be deemed an attempt at European colonialism on a golfing scale.
Protocol requires the European Tour to seek sanction from the Asian Tour to hold any pro event on the Asian continent. With the $2.5 million Indian Masters, Europe has bypassed the Asian Tour and linked up with a Dubai-based promoter and the amateur Indian Golf Union to stage the event.
As a courtesy, they should really be talking to the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), even before the Asian Tour.
Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han said he was “appalled†by the European Tour’s actions and will be hoping that top Indian players such as Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Shiv Kapur snub the tournament next year.
Jeev has refused to criticise the tournament but was non-committal about taking part, saying it would depend on his schedule.
Randhawa, a board member of the PGTI, was more forthright in questioning the European Tour’s line of attack, saying in an Associated Press article:
“There’s a protocol to keep the local professional golfers’ association in the loop. We feel they should have gone through us, we have a players’ body which will soon meet to discuss this development.â€
PGTI commissioner Ajay Gupta said such an event would be a boost to Indian golf but at the same time backed the Asian Tour, saying:
“We feel the Asian Tour’s stance is correct, you don’t go to another territory uninvited. My first priority is to protect the interests of Indian professionals.â€
There are already nine tournaments co-sanctioned by Europe and Asia, though the relationship between the two circuits remains frosty.
The Asian Tour really needs people like Randhawa, Jeev and other golfers who have won co-sanctioned events to support them. These players would not have got the chance to play in major tours in Europe and the US had not the Asian Tour provided them with a platform.
So far, it seems as if the players are responding to the Asian Tour’s call. We will see in 12 months time if they will stick to their guns.
