Asian men's golf dreams of developing its own superstar
The region has all of the requisites to be poised on the verge of dominating the world, but it longs for a male player to break into the elite
Asian golf returns this week with the search intensifying for a first global superstar to lead the region into a bright and innovative future and distract from the current squabbles.
With a growing middle class and thousands of courses, it is seen as just a matter of time before a player of genuine world stature emerges, but the process has been frustratingly slow.
As the Asian Tour starts its 10th season with the Zaykabar Myanmar Open tomorrow, Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita, 43, is the sole regional representative in the world's top 50, with only nine others in the top 100.
South Korea's Yang Yong-eun, 41, won the 2009 US PGA Championship but further successes have been scarce, with Asians largely unimpressive against their European and North American rivals in the region's biggest events last year.
It is a situation tacitly acknowledged by officials with the Asian Tour's eight-point wish list for the next 10 years including three Asians in the top 10, three more major-winners and the region's first superstar.
"Golf is in its infancy in the Asia-Pacific region. It takes time, and it takes time to develop personalities in particular," tour chief executive Mike Kerr said. "All sport is personality-driven but I think the foundations are there, the fundamentals are there, the growth is going to be there.