COOLUM, Australia (AP) -- A new golf tour comprising events in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India and other Asian countries is at the advanced discussion stage.
The OneAsia Tour has received a commitment from Japan, and that could see it emerging as a third major tour behind the PGA TOUR and the European Tour, said Ben Sellenger, chief executive officer of the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Sellenger said the new tour could be up and running by 2009, but stressed there was a lot of negotiation remaining. He said initially the goal was to play about 20 tournaments, with Australia to have four or five tournaments as part of the 12-month tour.
Japan would have approximately five tournaments from its extensive tour jointly sanctioned with the OneAsia Tour, while the others would come from countries such as Thailand, South Korea and India.
The proposed tour would offer more top-class tournaments, lift playing standards and attract more of the world's best golfers, said Sellenger.
"It absolutely makes sense that all the bodies in the region act together to try to create something bigger than the disparate parts," Sellenger said. "This is the way forward."
The Japan Golf Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia have signed a memorandum of understanding to create the OneAsia Tour and are now talking with the Asian Tour and golf officials in China, South Korea,Thailand and India about signing up to the new circuit, he said.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
