Inaugural Indonesian Masters on the Asian Tour set to tee off from Wednesday
Indonesia is all set to welcome the first of its kind high profile event on the Asian Tour, the Indonesian Masters, scheduled from April 21 to 24. The inaugural tournament has been designed by the Asian Tour to promote the sport in the country and also to
streamline sponsor confidence in the tour events.
The field comprises of some of the most celebrated players of the sports including world number two, Lee Westwood. Westwood has been successful on the Asian Tour a number of times contrary to the fate of many European players who have come to play in Asian.
Westwood has also expressed his fondness of the tour on a number of occasions.
Also featuring on the tour is three times Asian Tour Order of Merit Champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand. Young South Korean golfer
Baek Seuk-hyu will also be eyeing the top slot after his recent successful bids in the tournaments on the Asian Tour.
Baek was the runner-up in last year’s Indian Open, made cuts on four occasions afterwards and finished tied for 17th in last week’s Maybank Malaysian Open.
“I’ve been practicing a lot to play well in big tournaments such as this one. I know that if I get a good start in the big events, I can win enough money and hold on to my Asian Tour Card which is one of my goals this season,” said the 20-year-old Baek.
Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang, Sail Open winner Kiradech Aphibarnrat and last week’s Panasonic Open winner Anirban Lahiri will also be featuring in the star studded tournament. Lin is coming out of a four months break when he joined in the Maybank Malaysian
Open and is still facing a handicap of being away from the course for too long.
“Before the Malaysian Open, I was on a four-month break. Believe or not, I felt a bit nervous playing in my first event after such a long break but I’m feeling better now and ready to challenge for honours,” said Lin.
Australian Darren Beck, the winner of the 2009 Brunei Open, expressed his concerns over his inability to hole putts but hoped that his recent good putting at Maybank Malaysian Open will continue to get better in the upcoming Indonesian Masters.
With a total purse of $ 750,000 and a winner’s share of $118,875, the tournament has been able to attract a lot of attention not only of the general public but also many of the commercial concerns which have shown interest in extending the sponsorship for
the event.
The official sponsors of the event are Royale Jakarta, The Four Season Hotel, Mercedes Benz, Garuda Indonesia and Srixon. The event also boasts complete support of the Professional Golf Association of Indonesia.
The inaugural Indonesian Open is poised to become one of the top sports events of the country and organizers are pitched to gather more lucrative sponsorships for the event. The tournament will be broadcasted live to as many as 130 countries worldwide and
will be viewed in 400 million homes via Asian Tour’s Television setup.
The proceeds of the tournament will go directly to Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization engaged in building homes for the underprivileged in Indonesia. The country has experienced economic boom in the last decade but its burgeoning population
poses a constant threat to its continued progress.
The Royale Jakarta Golf Club is located in the suburbs of the city which has a population exceeding one billion.
Tags: