Asian Tour is the new moolah zone

The Asian Golf Tour will have at least 11 events with more than $one million as prize money, according to the new calendar. The Tour will travel to 16 countries and territories and will see at least six events raise their prize money significantly.

India figures twice in the calendar. First, the Johnnie Walker Classic, a $2.5 million event, will be coming to India for the first time. The event will be held from Feb 28 to March 2 at the DLF Golf and Country Club.

The other event on the schedule is the Hero Honda Indian Open, which is currently offering $500,000, but is likely to raise that amount significantly, considering it has upped the purse by $100,000 each of the last two times.

Asian Tour Executive Chairman Kyi Hla Han said the core of the provisional 2008 Schedule is based upon the successful staging of a collection of established and long-running tournaments across the region.

Six events have raised their prize money significantly for 2008, with the Pine Valley Beijing Open and Iskandar Johor Open, both were inaugurated this year, at $500,000 and $300,000 respectively, offering $1 million each and the Maybank Malaysian Open offering a record $2 million.

The Barclays Singapore Open, Asia's richest national championship, will also raise its prize fund from $4 million to $5 million. The Midea China Classic and Macau Open will also increases to $500,000 next year, from US$400,000 and $300,000 respectively.

Between these six events, the Asian Tour stars will shoot for over $3 million more than what was offered in 2007.

The new season will kick off Jan 24-27, with the staging of the inaugural $300,000 Asian Tour International at a venue yet to be confirmed.

In the opening months the 2008 season, several events have swapped dates. The Singapore Masters, traditionally played in March, will now move a month early to Feb 14-17 for its eighth edition while the Maybank Malaysian Open, an event inaugurated in 1962, will be held from March 6-9 with a record prize fund.

The prestigious Johnnie Walker Classic will visit India for the first time from Feb 28-March 2, while Asia's oldest national Championship, the Philippine Open, will also be held in March at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.