Men's top-flight golf drought ends

SINGAPORE - After almost 18 months without a marquee men's golf event, Singapore fans are set to be treated to top-level competition once again.

The Championship at Laguna National, an event co-sanctioned by both the European and Asian Tours, will tee off for the first time from May 1-4 at Laguna's Masters Course.

The US$1.5 million (S$1.9 million) showpiece aims to fill the void left by the Singapore Open, which has been on hiatus since December 2012 because of a lack of sponsors.

But the sport's packed calendar and a short lead-up time before the tournament means that headline acts like Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson will not be on show next month.

Among those who will compete are Australia's Brett Rumford, a five-time European Tour winner, and three-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Thongchai Jaidee from Thailand.

Some of the European Tour's rising talents will also make the trip, including British amateur champion Garrick Porteous, who is playing at the Masters this week, and American Peter Uihlein, once the world's top-ranked amateur.

The 156-strong field will also feature six Singaporeans - including veteran pros Mardan Mamat and Lam Chih Bing.

The Straits Times understands that while there is no commitment to host the tournament on a multi-year deal at the moment, organisers are looking at this year's response to determine whether they should bring a bigger and better event in the future.

"It's a bit of a tragedy that Singapore had no men's golf competition for quite some time so our intention is to have a top event here on a regular basis," David Ciclitira, chairman of Parallel Media Group, the event's promoter, told the Straits Times yesterday.

"People, as will sponsors, get excited when they see a good tournament, on a good course, with good competitive play."

Laguna's last European Tour event was the 2007 Clariden Leu Singapore Masters. More recently, a Tiger Woods-led clinic in 2011 and a Korean LPGA event in 2012 were held on its revamped World Classic and Masters courses respectively, renowned for their unforgiving roughs and numerous water hazards.

The new event replaces the Ballantine's Championship, held in South Korea since 2008 but which could not find a suitable venue this year.

This has worked to Singapore's benefit, especially since the HSBC Women's Champions was the only elite tournament on the calendar.

Singapore Open officials have struggled to find a title sponsor to replace British bank Barclays, which chose not to extend its seven-year deal in December 2012.

Once Asia's richest national Open with a US$6 million prize purse, the tournament was targeted by organisers to return in "early 2014" but that is unlikely now.

A lack of sponsors was also the reason why the $400,000 Asian Tour-sanctioned ISPS Handa Singapore Classic was not extended at the end of its three-year contract in 2012.

The Championship at Laguna, according to Ciclitira, may be starting with a relatively low US$1.5 million pot but the idea is to grow it progressively.

"This way, you have a better chance of lasting than if you simply throw prize money at the top end, which has happened in a lot of golf events," said the 56-year-old Briton.

He has organised over 70 tournaments, including the Caltex Singapore Masters and Prudential Causeway Trophy.

The Championship, Ciclitira added, was first mooted during a five-minute conversation with Laguna National owner Peter Kwee last Friday. Within days, key Tour officials were on board, leading to the news that could shape the landscape of local golf for years to come.

Australian Scott Barr, a regular on the Asian Tour since 2004, is excited about the event.

Said the Singapore-based golfer: "A fresh, new men's golf tournament is exactly what Singapore needs.

"It has talked about being a sports hub. But without a proper golf event, that statement lacked credibility - until now."

This article was published on April 10 in The Straits Times.

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