The Asian Tour has provided fresh details of its 10-tournament series in partnership with Liv Golf Investments, with the Saudi-backed company increasing its investment to $300 million.
The International Series, announced in November, will feature 10 marquee events around the world and forms part of the 2022/23 season schedule. The collection of tournaments will begin in Thailand next March, followed by stops in England, South Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East, China, Singapore and Hong Kong. Prize funds will range from $1.5m to $2million per event.
Confirmed on Tuesday in the build-up to the tour’s new flagship event, the Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, Asian Tour commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant said: “We are on the threshold of a new era for Asian golf. 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.
“Importantly, The International Series will add to the Asian Tour’s backbone of established events to comprise a 25-event season, expected to represent a record-breaking combined prize-fund. Each of the 10 events will be broadcast live across the globe, with plans to attract an international field of headline talent.”
The Saudi International, which begins on Thursday, sits outside The International Series. In October, two-time major champion and former world No 1 Norman was installed as CEO of Liv Golf, a newly formed enterprise backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Wealth Fund. Liv Golf had already guaranteed a $200m investment in the Asian Tour across the next 10 years.
“We are setting the Asian Tour up as a powerful new force on the world golf stage,” Norman said. “In my 40 years as a professional golfer, I’ve seen many parts of the world that have benefitted tremendously from golf and its growth and development. We now have the opportunity to do that in the Asia Pacific region and the Middle East with this incredible investment platform.
“Everyone benefits – professional players, amateurs, grassroots golf, fans, economies, communities, stakeholders. I’ve never been so optimistic about the future of the sport.”
The series will commence at Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin, Thailand from March 3-6, with London staging the next event at Centurion Club from June 9-12. Organisers say the schedule for the remainder of the series will be released “in due course”.
