November 7, 2006
SINGAPORE (AFP) - Growing interest from sponsors and players has allowed a 30 percent growth in prize money for the Ladies Asian Golf Tour, which will tee off its second season in Macau in January.
The Tour, which organisers hope will blossom to take its place alongside established tours in the United States, Europe and Japan, will feature at least five events in 2007 -- the same as in its inaugural season.
They include the Binhai Ladies Open in Shanghai, the DLF Indian Women's Open in New Delhi, the Hong Kong Ladies Masters, the Macau LAGT Championship and the Thailand Ladies Open.
In total, 600,000 US dollars is up for grabs -- still small change compared to the USLPGA where up to one million dollars can be at stake in a single tournament.
Nevertheless, the increase in prize money and a growing popularity among women golfers is encouraging, said Tour Commissioner Koichi Kato.
"We still have three months until the opening tournament and we've already been flooded with e-mails and calls from players throughout the world wanting to compete," said Kato.
"Due to demand we are already planning a qualifying school for the 2008 season with only the top 50 golfers in the 2007 order of merit gaining automatic qualification to the Tour."
The inaugural Tour this year attracted over 200 players from 17 countries.
A men's Asian Tour is already well established.
2007 schedule:
Jan 24-26: Macau LAGT Championship
Jan 31-Feb 2: Hong Kong Ladies Masters
March 7-9: Thailand Ladies Open
March 14-16: DLF Indian Women's Open
March 21-23: Binhai Ladies Open Shanghai