Asian golf tour chief reaches out to China

Asian Tour chief Kyi Hla Han reached out to the China Golf Association on Thursday while stepping up his attack on the OneAsia Tour, accusing it of "cannibalising" events.

Tensions have been simmering since the OneAsia "super series" was announced in January by the Australian PGA, the China Golf Association, the Korea Golf Association and the Korea PGA.

Han has claimed he was not consulted and said the Australians, who have been the driving force, had breached the spirit of the game, with four of the six OneAsia events announced this year previously run by the Asian Tour.

The first tournament, the Volvo China Open, is played next month although Asian Tour players have made clear they will not be teeing off.

In siding with OneAsia, CGA chief Zhang Xiaoning said last week the Asian Tour had not given it enough benefits.

But Han said this was untrue and urged him to reconsider.

"We are surprised to hear this as the Asian Tour has engaged Mr Zhang Xiaoning in meetings over the years, and he never once expressed this sentiment," he said.

"In the past, whenever the CGA have requested extra playing spots and other benefits, we have always discussed it and reached an amicable solution."

He pointed to the success of Chinese golfers such as Liang Wen-chong and Zhang Lian-wei, who made their names on the Asian Tour and went on to enjoy global recognition.

"We continue to be available and willing to discuss collaboration with the CGA, and have again requested to meet, during which time we would hope these issues can be aired and resolved," added Han.

"I would like to clearly state that the Asian Tour would like to maintain a healthy long-term relationship with the CGA and feel that we have much to offer.

"Our relationship with the CGA has always been amicable until the PGA of Australia approached them to form OneAsia."

The 2.2 million dollar China Open is co-sanctioned by the European Tour, which made clear to AFP last week that it would prefer that the Asian Tour remains involved.

Han said support for his organisation was solid, with many sponsors attracted by the quality of its players and a strong regional television platform.

"The Asian Tour continues to receive strong support from organisations across Asia, and the European Tour and the Japan Golf Tour have clearly indicated that they support the Asian Tour while distancing themselves from OneAsia," he said.

Australian PGA Tour commissioner Ben Sellenger has said he wants to grow the OneAsia Tour into a series that rivals the European and US Tours, but Han belittled this as "complete ignorance."

"To say that OneAsia will offer a platform higher than the Asian Tour is totally irresponsible and completely unfounded as they are only cannibalising existing events," he said.

"The bottom line is that Australia has not brought anything new onto the table, and yet it is claiming its grand vision of becoming become the third largest in the world behind the US and European Tours."

The China Open takes place in Beijing from April 16-19. Other OneAsia events this year include the Pine Valley Open and Midea Classic in China, the Korea Open, and the Australian Open and Australian PGA Championships.