Asian Tour Yearbook - 2022

Asian Tour 2020-2021: Feast Follows Famine A fter the famine, came the feast. Or at least that’s the way it felt, assessing the Asian Tour schedule in the first phase of pandemic recovery. There was no sugar-coating the fact that the Asian Tour suffered acutely during COVID-19, without doubt the most devastatingly hit of any of the world’s major golf Tours. Despite everyone’s best efforts, the challenges of cross-border travel proved insurmountable across the circuit’s traditional geographical boundaries. As such, the Asian Tour endured a barren 21-month, 84-week period during which dozens of its regular performers were denied the opportunity to earn their living. It was on March 7, 2020, that Trevor Simsby claimed victory in the Bandar Malaysian Open. No one could have envisioned that tournament action would not resume until the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship teed-off on November 25, 2021. The pandemic-enforced disruptions meant what was originally supposed to be the Asian Tour’s 2020 season actually ran through to the penultimate week of January 2022. The Order of Merit was based on the results of just eight tournaments spread over 24 months in three different calendar years, offering a combined total of US$8.25 million in prize money. Pre-pandemic, four events were completed, all national Open championships – Hong Kong Open, SMBC Singapore Open, New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sports and Bandar Malaysian Open. At that point, Australian Wade Ormsby, winner in Hong Kong, was atop the Order of Merit, with rising Korean star Joohyung Kim in sixth spot. A further four events were given the post-pandemic go-ahead, two on the Thai island of Phuket in late 2021 (Blue Canyon Phuket Championship and Laguna Phuket Championship) and two in Singapore in early 2022 (The Singapore International and SMBC Singapore Open). All four events were conducted in tournament bubbles, adhering to local government standard operating procedures. All players had to be fully vaccinated in order to compete. Jazz Janewattananond, the 2019 Order of Merit champion, articulated the sense of delight at being able to compete again. He said: “When I heard the Asian Tour is on, I felt like things are going to be back to normal, everything is going to be fine. “It means the pandemic situation in Asia is improving because they are allowing us to set up tournaments. It’s a win-win situation for the players, the Tour and the region.” 5 The Order of Merit was based on the results of eight tournaments spread over 24 months in three different calendar years, offering a combined total of US$8.25 million in prize money. Joohyung Kim (LEFT) won once and was second twice enroute to winning the Merit list.