It's a familiar lament, an all-too-familiar lament in these parts. On the eve of the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai this week, Asian Tour chief Kyi Hla Han said he was not particularly happy with the practice of paying top international players appearance fee money to come to play in Asia.
'I did not agree with the practice when I was a player and I don't agree with it now,' he said. '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 proportion to performance.'
While it's an honourable sentiment, in his heart Han knows it's impractical. There is no way you get the biggest names in the game, like Tiger Woods, Ernie Els or Colin Montgomerie, to come all the way over to Asia and play just for prize money.
These guys are mercenaries, it's that simple, and while they may preach about wanting to help the game grow internationally, they aren't about to do it for free. It's a dilemma for the likes of Han, who knows his tour needs to develop some indigenous stars to pull in the casual fan. The problem is once they become stars, they leave for greener pastures.
India's Jeev Milkha Singh is a classic example. Singh finally made his way into the top 50 players in the world and was rewarded with a trip to this year's Masters, where he acquitted himself rather well by finishing tied for 37th and pocketed US$37,900.
Instead of coming back to Asia the following week to defend his title at the Volvo China Open in Shanghai, he went to South Carolina to play in the Verizon Heritage, one of the less prestigious PGA tour stops. However, prize money at the Verizon Heritage was US$5,400,000 while the Volvo China Open, one of the more lucrative tournaments in Asia and co-sanctioned with the European tour, was offering US$2 million.