MAN IN CHARGE
The turmoil in the professional game recently has thrown Asian Tour into the spotlights. CEO and Commissioner Cho Minn Thant throws some light on the road ahead.
THE GAME’S PROFESSIONAL GOLF TOURS ARE CONTINUING TO LOOK VERY DIVIDED. HOW DOES THE ASIAN TOUR FACTOR INTO THE MIX?
From our perspective we are in a unique position where we are a traditional Tour which consists of a 24-event schedule of 72-hole stroke play tournaments that are recognised by the Official World Golf Ranking, yet we are also a partner of LIV Golf with 10 of our 24 events forming The International Series. Amidst all the turbulence of the last two and a half years we have managed to maintain our identity whilst elevating ourselves to a new level with the LIV Golf partnership. We provide the players on the LIV Golf League roster with additional playing opportunities to complete outside of their 14 events, but The International Series also provides Asian Tour members the chance to compete on a higher level. We still maintain relationships with the other International Federation Tours but at this moment we do not have any event collaboration with the PGA TOUR or the DP World Tour.
AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE?
Although it is a positive thing, we see ourselves evolving from a small business to a medium business quite rapidly. With this comes various challenges where we want to expand and improve our organisation, but we can’t do everything at once. Having to prioritise and manage our ambitions as well as budgeting is probably one of the most challenging things right now. Looking outside of traditional linear broadcast into new digital media is at the forefront of our roadmap for the future.
YOU’VE SPENT MANY YEARS AT THE ASIAN TOUR. TAKE US THROUGH YOUR JOURNEY IN THE VARIOUS AREAS IN WHICH YOU’VE WORKED, AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE TOUR?
The Asian Tour was established in 2004 so this year marks our 20th anniversary. I believe the Tour has evolved from being primarily an Asian player dominant Tour to being a fully-fledged International Tour which has expanded geographically from Asia into the Middle East. My time at the Asian Tour began in 2007 when I joined as an event manger assisting with the operation of events run by the Asian Tour such as the Qualifying School and various National Opens. From there I progressed onto leading event management, then to Player Affairs, Tour Policy, and the COO position before taking my current role as the CEO. I have been fortunate to have been involved with the Asian Tour for most of my working life and the relationships forged over all these years have provided in depth knowledge of the professional golf landscape. Our former Executive Chairman, the late Kyi Hla Han, was a big influence in shaping my career where he not only gave a lot of time and sharing insights but giving me the opportunity to observe and eventually be involved with high level decision making at a very young age.
THE DP WORLD TOUR (FORMERLY EUROPEAN TOUR) AND PGA TOUR SEEM TO BE MAKING HEADWAY INTO ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST. HOW DOES THE ASIAN TOUR FEEL ABOUT THIS AND WHAT STEPS WILL IT BE TAKING TO MAINTAIN VIABILITY IN ITS OWN MARKETS?
The Tours have their own strategy and ambitions for their membership as is our mandate for the Asian Tour. We enjoyed a long-term relationship with both Tours, but circumstances have led to us operating independently for now. Our focus very much remains on strengthening our presence in Asia, but we are seeing a high level of interest in the Middle East. The Middle East is an important region for us now where we did not have any events in that region for over a decade. We now have strong events in Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar as well as Morocco, and Egypt before. We are excited about the commercial interest and the desire to partner and reach the audience in the Far East. It’s very encouraging to see markets like Macau, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei stepping up and increasing their support of the Asian Tour.
WHAT WOULD YOU SEE TO BE THE BEST OUTCOME FOR ASIAN PLAYING PROS, AND THE ASIAN TOUR, FOR HOW THE LIV-PGA TOUR SITUATION RESOLVES?
There is no denying that professionals from all around the world are taking notice of the Asian Tour. That means Asian players are going to have to evolve to compete alongside talent from other continents. The best outcome from my perspective is a lift in standard amongst Asian players in terms of professionalism, preparation and ultimately performance. As far as the political side of things is concerned, I would like to see freedom of movement for players who are eligible to play multiple Tours.
One of the more frustrating things at the moment for our members is the release policy that the DP World Tour have implemented where dual members must apply for release if they wish to play an Asian Tour event opposite a DP World Tour event. This has caused a major dilemma for players such as Shubhankar Sharma, Gavin Green, John Catlin and Jazz Janewattananond over the past two and a half years where John and Jazz have lost status on either or both Tours. Gavin and Shubhankar’s exemptions for winning the Asian Tour Order of Merit will expire soon, and it would be a shame if they did not have the ability to try and retain status on our Tour where their careers started. In an ideal world, players should have a freedom to complete on multiple Tours, provided they fulfil the event minimum of both Tours.
AS CEO, HOW DO YOU SPREAD YOUR TIME?
It is fair to say I wear many hats. I am a diplomat, a rights holder, a sports administrator. I run a members’ organisation, servicing stakeholders and partners, and I oversee the management of a SME. I spend many days on the road at events, planning for events, meeting partners and stakeholders and attending global events like Majors and the Olympics. So, I am a global citizen in all senses of the term. When I am not travelling (and that is rare), I spend time at Black Mountain in Hua Hin, Thailand; Jupiter, Florida; and, of course, Singapore.
HOW MUCH HAS THE ASIAN TOUR GROWN, AND WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR FURTHER GROWTH?
We are headquartered in Singapore on Sentosa Island, home of Sentosa Golf Club, but we also have offices in Malaysia and Thailand. And, of course, we do spend a lot of time in the Middle East, as I mentioned earlier.
At the moment we are working on enhancing our staffing and structure. We acknowledge that we need to strengthen our digital content in order to keep up with new trends and audience behaviour. The tropical climate of our region provides a challenge in terms of spectators or footfall on site, but we are eager to improve the onsite experience at our events also. Our growth will come naturally as our communications and marketing functions grow, which are our main focus areas.
IF ALL GOES TO PLAN, WHERE DO YOU SEE THE ASIAN TOUR IN 5 YEARS’ TIME?
I would like to see us continue on a steady trajectory towards being a year-round Tour with 30-35 events on the main Asian Tour as well as 18-20 events on the Asian Development Tour. I know we always talk about the Asian Tour but most weeks there are only 144 spots available per event at the top level. We would like to see a strong pathway and the Asian Development Tour is an important focus for us in nurturing and identifying talent. That means that we will cover 50-plus events annually along with our Qualifying School.
WHAT IS YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL FOR THE ASIAN TOUR?
To become a world class sporting property that gets mainstream recognition outside of the golfing audience. Seeing our members competing and excelling at Major Championships regularly is also one of our “major” ambitions.
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