Asian boss blasts big money lures
Asian Tour supremo Kyi Hla Han has strongly condemned the practice of paying appearance money to star imports for co-sanctioned events staged within the tour's territory. Marquee players such as South African duo Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, European Ryder Cup stars Colin Montgomerie and Paul Casey and American John Daly are understood to be receiving up to US$250,000 each to play in this week's BMW Asian Open in Shanghai.
Kyi Hla Han, who assumed the helm of the fast-growing Asian Tour last September, said he was 'very uncomfortable' with the principle of paying appearance money to European and US Tour players when the Asian Tour is the host organisation.
'It is not something we like to see here in Asia, but I guess it is a sponsor's decision,' the executive chairman said. 'I did not agree with the practice when I was a player and I don't agree with it now. It effectively takes money out of my members' pockets and we would much rather see all the players' budget going into the prize fund where everyone has the opportunity to earn in direct proportion to performance,' Han said.
Last week's Volvo China Open, which offered a US$2 million prize fund compared to the US$2.3 million on offer at this week's BMW Asian Open, attracted the cream of Asian golf, minus defending champion Jeev Milkha Singh, who missed the cut in the lucrative US Tour event he chose to play, and a workmanlike European Tour entry. The Asian Open has attracted three of the world's top 20, plus Montgomerie (29th) and Daly (234th).
It will be the reported six-figure sum paid to the colourful Daly that particularly sticks in the throats of the Asian Tour players, more than a dozen of whom are ranked higher.
A senior Asian Tour player, who did not wish to be named, said: 'It's wrong. The Asian Tour prize money has risen 100 per cent in three years, thanks to our efforts and our economy, while the European Tour has growth in single figures, and yet their guys come out here and take a million dollars right off the top line.
'These are already fabulously rich guys already. The acid test will come when we see whether Asian Tour players like Jeev [Milkha Singh] and Thongchai [Jaidee] are paid appearance money to play European Tour events, and I think we all know the answer to that one.'