Q: The Asian Tour has just celebrated the return of the Macau Open. How important is it to have the event back on the schedule and, in such a dynamic place fuelled by casino wealth, what growth do you see for the tournament?
It was wonderful the Macau Open made a welcome return after a one-year lapse. The event has been one of the most popular tournaments on our schedule since its debut in 1998 and our players enjoy going to Macau because of its rich culture and diversity. With the support of the Macau Sport Development Board (MSDB), Cityneon - who came in as our presenting sponsor - and IMG, a record prize fund of US$750,000 was offered. The event was also beamed live on our global TV platform, which was the first time in the tournament's history. The goal is now to sustain the tournament's growth and to gradually increase the prize money.
Q: Strangely, the tournament had only one representative from the mainland - China's elder statesman Zhang Lianwei. Why was that and where are China's young golfers?
Zhang has a playing category on the Asian Tour through his top-20 ranking of our career earnings list, while Ye Jianfeng holds a lower category through qualifying school. The Asian Tour provides five country exemptions to every national organisation in Asia for them to nominate their players to play on the Asian Tour, not only the Macau Open, for the whole year. It is entirely up to the players to decide where they want to play. We are disappointed the Chinese are not taking up these playing opportunities as we want to enhance their playing careers.
Q: You once had close ties with China and its golf development. Is there a wave of players being nurtured or produced and will they be competitive by the time golf returns to the Olympics in 2016?
The Official World Golf Rankings will be used to select the players for the Olympics in Rio in 2016. The Asian Tour events have the highest world ranking points in Asia as we are a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. For Asian players, the Asian Tour is by far the best route to get into the Olympics, hence players will need to compete on our tour to boost their world rankings.