Asian Tour lands in more trouble with controversial appearance money
As the calendar year on the Asian Tour approaches one of the bigger events, the season-ending Thailand Golf Championship which will be staged at the flood-ravaged Bangkok, the under-the-table appearance money involved has once again stirred up criticism
from almost all walks of life.
The field will boost of three of the four major champions of the current year, including Charl Schwartzel (Masters), Rory McIlroy (U.S. Open) and Darren Clarke (British Open) along with some of the other top-ranking players on the Official World Golf Rankings
(OWGR).
Thailand in general and Bangkok in particular, has been a sad picture of massive devastation followed by the torrential rains and floods. Most of the city was inundated with rain water and many city localities are suffering from the destruction of the floods.
The country has received the biggest devastation in terms of floods in its history and the government and private sector organisations are struggling to bring life back to normalcy.
Also on the field, will be the current World Number Three, Lee Westwood, who is known for his ability to play on Asian turf and will be a lethal force for the rest of the competitors.
Meanwhile, Asian Tour chief, Kyi Hla Han has vowed to generate substantial income which will be used for the betterment of the general public ravaged by the floods. "There is a lot of charity effort for the flood victims already in place for that tournament,"
Han told Reuters. "Everything the Tour is hearing about Thailand is that the country is trying to get back to normal and by having this event we are doing our part.”
The cost of bringing players down the course with massive appearance money has raised eyebrows from all and sundry. Top-ranked Thai player, Thaworn Wiratchant, whose house was also badly damaged by the floods, believes that the mammoth fee paid to players
just to participate in the event could have been utilised for the uplift of the city and the country.
Han out rightly rejected Thaworn’s suggestion and reiterated that the participation of high-profile players will generate more income from the event.
Han added, "So by agreeing to go ahead with the tournament, and yes with some players being paid appearance money, the Asian Tour is throwing our support behind the country. So we're trying to be more positive than negative and I don't know where Tharwon
is coming from."
Han cited the example of the Jakarta Marriot bombing some four years ago where a similar event was underway. He said that not only the players came over to play in the event but generously contributed for the victims of the gory incident.
Some of the top-ranking players of the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and South African Ernie Els have known to be the most expensive players in terms of appearance money. Els has not only played vigorously throughout the current calendar year, but
has also toured several distant spots to swing his clubs.
PGA Tour, in particular, has done nothing to curtail the sponsor’s stealthy operations to lure in big names to their sponsored events, while European Tour has taken several steps to curb the habit of appearance money. This is one of the reasons PGA Tour
is considered more lucrative than its counterpart on the other side of the Atlantic, while many of the players just participate for illegal money and often even fail to make the cut.
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