Asian Tour chief Cho Minn Thant and the circuit’s No.1 ranked player, Joohyung Kim, flank Greg Norman at the International Series launch. Photos by James Farrell

By Kent Gray
With England locked and loaded and the United States firmly on the drawing board, the message is crystal clear: the Asian Tour suddenly sees all and every corner of the golf world as its oyster.

That much became blatantly obvious at the unveiling of the tour’s new marquee brand on the not so subtle side-lines of the PIF Saudi International last month -– even if Greg Norman was at pains to insists “we’re not in this for a fight”.

The LIV Golf CEO joined Asian Tour supremo Cho Minn Thant and the circuit’s freshly minted Order-of-Merit champion Joohyung Kim to herald the arrival of ‘The International Series’, 10 marquee events being bankrolled by LIV Golf to the tune of $300 million over the next decade.

In attendance at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club were a small travelling press corp, a larger international media audience logged in virtually and a palpable sense of intrigue surrounding LIV Golf’s next move beyond its investment in the OWGR-sanctioned Asian Tour.

By announcing that its shiny new series will visit The Centurion Club on the northern outskirts of London and the Middle East twice – i.e. traditional DP World Tour territory – the Asian Tour’s intentions are clear at the very least.

Fiscally emboldened by its new Saudi-backed strategic partner, the Asian Tour has shed all historical insecurities and any fear of straying beyond golf’s long-since blurred continental boundaries. The olive branch to the DP World Tour and PGA Tour remains extended but knowing it is likely striking out on its own, the Asian Tour delivered its first  “Game on” mission statement.

“Obviously there’s no boundaries anymore in the world of golf,” Thant, the Asian Tour’s dual CEO and Commissioner, said before focusing specifically on the June 9-12 event in England.

“…And yes, it comes as a surprise to many of us in this room, but it’s basically part of our strategy to make the Asian Tour more of a global tour. We have members from all over the world, 25 different nationalities playing on the Asian Tour. It’s not just for Asians. It’s not just in Asia, and we will be playing in other destinations outside such as the Middle East.”

As Lee Westwood mentioned in a media conference the following day, the Asian Tour’s competitors surely can’t have been broadsided by the Centurion surprise.

“Now that the Asian Tour has this backing, it appears to me like they’re just doing what the PGA Tour and the European Tour have been doing the last 25 years,” said the Englishman, an eight time winner in Asia.

Thant went on to defend the Asian Tour’s expansionist strategy and a new-found voice triggered by one of the biggest investment deals in golf history.

“We’ve been vilified as bad boys in the press over the last few months, and I really think it’s unjustified,” Thant said. “Any tour…has a responsibility to its membership to look at sponsorship and partnership opportunities to improve the tour. Likewise the European Tour worked with DP World to title sponsor that tour. I don’t see us working with LIV Golf Investments or any other promoter, any other sponsor throughout the course of the season as a bad thing.

“I’m out here to increase the number of playing opportunities for our members. I’m here to increase the amount of prize money that’s on offer. I’m here to improve the awareness and the experience for the fans of golf in Asia, and I think this is exactly what we’re doing.”

With the 10 International Series events to be broadcast live, the Asian Tour hopes to drive deeper engagement with fans, attract new commercial interest and to “help stabilise professional golf following a sustained period of worldwide disruption and uncertainty.”

“We are on the threshold of a new era for Asian golf,” Thant continued.“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.”

That growth, according to Norman, is long overdue.

“Healthy competition is a great thing, right?” the former world No.1 said.

“So as long as we do that in a respectful, healthy way, everybody is going to be a benefactor. Every bit of the ecosystem for the game of golf will be the benefactor. Every institution should be embracing this new opportunity of unlocking the lost opportunity that’s been left sitting there for decades and decades and decades.”

Those assurances predictably continue to fall on deaf ears as the U.S. and UK media go into bat for golf’s traditional superpower tours in the face of what many see as a hostile competitor. Norman, believes the ire directed towards LIV Golf, which itself is bankrolled by Saudi’s Public Investment Fund, is misplaced.  

“Well, we’re not in this for a fight. We’re in this for the good of the game,” Norman said. 

“It’s disappointing to be honest, personally disappointing to see some of the attacks that have been taking place unwarrantedly. Any time you go into — if you pre-judge anybody without knowing the facts, then shame on you, to be honest with you.”

Norman was asked what return LIV Golf hoped for out of its $300 million investment, a thinly veiled attempt by an interviewer to extract more info on the rumoured LIV league.

“In a nutshell, what have we really done? We’ve identified a new opportunity out of a lost opportunity, and I mean that in all sincerity. We identify virgin space for lost opportunities or people overlooked for decades and decades and decades. The lost opportunity people should be embracing, other institutions should be embracing. 

“We are very, very respectful and will always be open, and I’m always going to be a healthy, friendly competitor, and that’s important to know, because the market is huge and it’s open for everybody, and we’re going to have these open pathways.

“From LIV Golf Investments, this is just the start for us. The 10-event series we’ll be starting off is just the beginning. It’s the beginning of an exciting new journey.”

Another reporter jumped on Norman’s repeated attempts to position LIV Golf, and by association the Asian Tour, as friendly competitors, even if the PGA-DP World Tour alliance clearly don’t see it that way.

“What is LIV Golf Investments doing that you are scared of? Why do you have to have these attacks to the level they do?” Norman posed in response.

“Understand the fact that we have always and continued to be very collaborative and cooperative with any of the institutions right across the board. We want to work together side by side.

“I would encourage them [The PGA and DP World Tour alliance] to sit back and say, maybe it’s a good time to sit down and understand if we can work side by side.”