Asian Tour Yearbook - 2022

Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and CEO, said: “After a difficult few years the Asian Tour was thrilled to restart and, most importantly, expedite the return of our membership to elite competition. “Asian Tour staff had been working around the clock to resume competition and crown the Merit list champion – a challenge made more difficult by our reach across many countries and each of their COVID- related protocols.” To succeed in such trying circumstances was a significant feat. So, too, were the performances of 19-year-old Kim, who followed up his victory in The Singapore International at Tanah Merah Country Club with a joint second-place finish in the following week’s SMBC Singapore Open at Sentosa Golf Club. Kim played all eight Order of Merit-counting tournaments, compiling earnings of US$507,553.35 – comfortably ahead of second-placed Thai Sadom Kaewkanjana, another outstanding young prospect. His Merit triumph continued Kim’s astonishing surge through the ranks and cemented his status as one of world golf’s most exciting teenagers. In 2019, after earning a battlefield promotion from the Asian Development Tour by winning three events, Kim was victorious on just his third Asian Tour start at the Panasonic Open in India. That made him the second youngest professional to win on the Asian Tour at 17 years and 149 days, six days older than Noh Seung-yul when his compatriot won the Midea China Classic in 2008. Everyone should remember the name Joohyung Kim. He’s going to be a world beater soon, and we’re very proud of what he’s done. -CHO MINN THANT Reflecting on the latest wave of promising Asian talent, led by Kim, Cho said: “We’ve always said that the Asian Tour is the youngest and most vibrant Tour out there, and the proof is in the pudding. Look at the Order of Merit winners over the last few years. They’ve all been under the age of 24. Joohyung is 19. “His story is one we’re very proud of. He came through qualifying school. He paid his dues playing the Asian Development Tour. He worked his way up to the Asian Tour and was talented enough to win, and then the COVID pandemic hit. “He didn’t have a lot to play, but he ground it out. He went back to the drawing board, developed his game, went to America, competed on his home Tour in Korea. He won three times in Korea, won the Order of Merit there. As soon as the Asian Tour started again, he was ready to go. Phenomenal finishes in Thailand, winning one tournament in Singapore and coming second. Everyone should remember the name. He’s going to be a world-beater soon. “That type of story actually personifies what the Asian Tour has gone through as an organisation. We’re a young organisation. We were trending upward before the COVID pandemic hit, and then it was disastrous for us for nearly two years.” However, with the 2022 campaign just around the corner, players and officials had good cause to feel bullish for the future. Cho said: “The enforced break due to the pandemic meant it was a time for us to go back to the drawing board, explore options, talk to different sponsors, and look at ways to come back bigger and stronger. A S I A N T O U R 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1 : F E A S T F O L L OW S F A M I N E 7 Sadom Kaewkanjana (LEFT) claimed the season- ending SMBC Singapore Open.