Preview of CIMB Asia Pacific Classic in Malaysia
The sites for the next two PGA Tour-sanctioned events might surprise a few people.
Beginning tomorrow, players will tee it up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, followed by a trip to Shanghai, China, for the final World Golf Championship event
of the year.
This week's tournament marks the first PGA Tour-sanctioned event to take place in Southeast Asia in tour history. The event is sanctioned by the Asian Tour, the PGA Tour, and the Professional
Golf Association of Malaysia.
While the average viewer might be surprised to see the PGA Tour hosting events in such far-flung locales, most players are not. They see this as a positive for the future of golf, a future
that is looking more and more international.
"Golf is a global game now,” said Englishman Luke Donald, ranked number eight in the world. “People want to see the U.S. players playing in Malaysia, China, or Japan. New events like this
tend to increase fan support for the game and create awareness that there are great places around the world to play golf in.”
Donald will be the top-ranked golfer in the 40-man field this week in Malaysia. Other notables joining Donald at the Mines Resort and Golf Club will be South African Ernie Els, a three-time
major winner, compatriot Retief Goosen, a two-time U.S. Open winner, and Tim Clark, who won this year’s Players Championship in May.
All in all, there are 12 American players in the field including Ryder Cup player Rickie Fowler. Bill Haas and Ryan Palmer, both of whom have won on tour this season, are also in the field.
With so many players coming from a long way away, it becomes that much more important to play well. Many players, including Clark, want to validate the long plane ride with some quality
play.
"I think this is a very important stretch for us to come over here," said Clark, who has had six top-10 finishes since winning the Players. "We certainly don't want to travel all the way
here and not have our 'A' game. It is something I'm geared for and getting my game in good shape to play well."
Clark has noticed the rising popularity of golf in Asia over the last few years.
"I've seen the growth down here,” he said. “With the amount of Asian players we see in the majors and world golf events, it shows the game is growing. If you get onto the computer and
the television, you can see the Asian Tour or Japanese Tour events. There's no question the game is growing down here and I think it is fantastic."
Els, known as one of the most well-traveled golfers on tour, has played tournaments around the world. But surprisingly, this week marks his first visit to Malaysia.
"As much as I've traveled in my 20 years as a professional golfer, this will be my first visit to this particular part of the world," Els said in his weekly blog on PGATOUR.COM. "It's
going to be quite a week and I'm really looking forward to it.”
There is also a large group of Asian players who could take a run at the title, including three-time Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, current number-one
on the Order of Merit Noh Seung-yul of Korea, and fellow countryman K.J. Choi.
Y.E. Yang of Korea is also in the field. Yang, who has had a quiet season so far, gave Asia their first major victory when he defeated none other than Tiger Woods to win the 2009 PGA Championship.
"It's always good to have the Asian Tour bring in new ideas,” said Yang of golf's growth in Asia. “This is definitely a good idea and to have the PGA TOUR partner with the Asian Tour and
the Asian Tour partner with the PGA TOUR, it reflects how the Asian Tour has made big strides for golf in Asia.”
"Hopefully the organizers and sponsors can sustain this effort for many years,” added Yang. “This, being a benchmark event, hopefully the same type of events can spread and proliferate
themselves around Asia."
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