PGA Tour China
PGA Tour China is a China-based men's professional golf tour as part of the PGA Tour's global expansion. The tour started in 2014. The start of the 2017 season has been delayed and there is a "good chance" the tour will not take place in 2017.[1]
The United States-based PGA Tour started PGA Tour China in 2014, joining PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour Latinoamérica as international developmental tours.[2] Similar to the Canadian and Latinoamerica tours, PGA Tour China offers a path to the Web.com Tour for top finishers. It also offers Official World Golf Ranking points to the top-six finishers at each tournament. The top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at season's end receive promotion to the Web.com Tour. The money leader is fully exempt, while the other four players receive conditional status while players Nos. 6-10 on the Order of Merit advance to the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament. The top-50 players on the Order of Merit at the end of the season retain PGA Tour China privileges for the following year.
On 29 January 2014, PGA Tour China announced qualifying procedures and a 12-event season to begin in April. Two 72-hole qualifying tournaments were played in March. Each event awarded 20 full-time Tour cards, and conditional cards to the next 20 players plus those tied. For its inaugural season, PGA Tour China gave exemptions to the top 70 according to the China Golf Association rankings. After the 40 qualifiers and 70 from the rankings, the balance of the fields were filled through sponsor exemptions, Monday qualifiers and eligible players from the Web.com Tour, PGA Tour Latinoamérica, and PGA Tour Canada.[3]
Zhang Lianwei, China's most successful professional golfer, hit the first tee shot in PGA Tour China history.[4] South Korean teenager Wang Jeung-hun dominated the season's first event, the Mission Hills Haikou Open, winning by what is still a tournament record 10 shots.
Teenager Li Haotong won the final two events of the 2014 season, the Hainan Open and the Tour Championship – and three tournaments overall – to capture Player of the Year honors and full access to the Web.com Tour. Another notable winner was China's Jin Cheng, a 16-year-old amateur who came from behind on the final day of the Nine Dragons Open to pass Lucas Lee. The victory by Jin is still the only time an amateur has broken through and won. Brett Drewitt finished third on the Order of Merit and also advanced to the Web.com Tour. After two seasons on that circuit, Drewitt earned his PGA Tour card for the 2016-17 season. Drewitt and Lee are the only two alums to hold PGA Tour membership.
In 2015, New Zealand's Josh Geary won three tournaments, matching the win total of Li. But it was Australia's Bryden Macpherson who returned to China for the second half of the season after failing to qualify for the Web.com Tour Playoffs. Macpherson won twice and finished atop the Order of Merit for a return trip to the Web.com Tour in 2016. Midway during the 2015 season, the series was renamed Ping An Bank China Tour – PGA Tour China Series after Ping An Bank became the tour's umbrella sponsor.
Another teenager from China dominated the third season, in 2016. Nineteen-year-old Dou Zecheng defeated Zhang Xinjun in the season-opening Henan Open, and Dou just kept winning. He eventually captured four titles, setting a record for single-season earnings CN¥1,144,350. The University of Oklahoma's Charlie Saxon won two tournaments and finished second on the Order of Merit. Dou was prominently featured in a Fortune article that appeared during the 2016 season.[5] The Tour also made history by hosting its first tournament outside of Mainland China, the Clearwater Bay Open at Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club in Hong Kong.
Omega China Tour
The previous China-based tour, the Omega China Tour, ran from 2005 to 2009. It was created to encourage the development players who intended to move up to the Asian Tour or other major international tours, and also to help accelerate the development of golf in the People's Republic of China, following the sports reintroduction to the country in the 1980s, having been absent during the early communist era.
Launched by the China Golf Association in 2005, the tour began with four three-day tournaments, each with a minimum purse of US$100,000. This increased to six four-day tournaments in 2006, and then eight in 2007. It was initially planned to have ten tournaments in 2008, but this was not possible, and there were again eight events.
China has hosted some big-money European Tour sanctioned tournaments, but at the launch of the Omega China Tour, the executive vice-president of the China Golf Association Jiang Xiuyun commented, "The future for golf in China – the real, long-term future – is not paying large sums to bring the world's superstars to play here. It is creating our own stars".[6] The Singapore-based World Sports Group was granted a five-year contract to organise the events. The Omega China Tour folded in 2009.
2016 season
The table below shows the initial 2016 schedule. "Date" is the ending date of each event. OWGR is the number of Official World Golf Ranking points awarded for that tournament. All tournaments had a purse of ¥1,200,000.
| Date | Tournament | Winner | OWGR pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 May | St. Andrews Henan Open |  Dou Zecheng (1) | 6 |
| 29 May | United Investment Real Estate WuHan Open | Dou Zecheng (2) | 6 |
| 5 Jun | Cadillac Championship |  Alexander Kang (1) | 6 |
| 12 Jun | Lanhai Open |  Rohan Blizard (1) | 6 |
| 26 Jun | Sunning Estate Nanjing Zhongshan Open | Dou Zecheng (3) | 6 |
| 3 Jul | Ping An Private Bank Wanda Open |  Kim Tae-woo (1) | 6 |
| 4 Sep | Yulongwan Yunnan Open | Dou Zecheng (4) | 6 |
| 11 Sep | Chongqing Jiangnan NewTown KingRun Open |  Gunn Charoenkul (2) | 7 |
| 18 Sep | Pingan Bank Open | Charlie Saxon (1) | 7 |
| 6 Nov | Clearwater Bay Open | Daniel Nisbet (1) | 7 |
| 13 Nov | Putian Open | Kim Tae-woo (2) | 7 |
| 20 Nov | Zhuhai Hengqin Phoenix Tree Open | Charlie Saxon (2) | 7 |
| 27 Nov | Buick Open | Zhang Huilin (2) | 7 |
Web.com Tour qualifiers
The top-five players on the Order of Merit earned Web.com Tour cards for 2017.
| Rank | Player | Country | Events | Prize money (CN¥) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dou Zecheng | China | 13 | 1,144,350 |
| 2 | Charlie Saxon | United States | 13 | 871,395 |
| 3 | Alexander Kang | United States | 12 | 597,575 |
| 4 | Kim Tae-woo | South Korea | 12 | 578,886 |
| 5 | Zhang Xinjun | China | 11 | 504,675 |
2015 season
The table below shows the initial 2015 schedule. "Date" is the ending date of each event. OWGR is the number of Official World Golf Ranking points awarded for that tournament. All tournaments had a purse of ¥1,200,000.
| Date | Tournament | Winner | OWGR pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Apr | Buick Open |  Josh Geary (1) | 6 |
| 17 May | Eternal Courtyard Open |  Chan Shih-chang (1) | 6 |
| 24 May | United Investment Real Estate Wuhan Open |  Justin Shin (1) | 6 |
| 31 May | Lanhai Open | Josh Geary (2) | 6 |
| 13 Sep | Pingan Bank Open | Eugene Wong (1) | 6 |
| 27 Sep | Cadillac Championship | Bryden Macpherson (1) | 6 |
| 4 Oct | Yulongwan Yunnan Open | Josh Geary (3) | 6 |
| 11 Oct | Lushan Open | Bryden Macpherson (2) | 6 |
| 18 Oct | Chongqing Jiangnan NewTown KingRun Open | Zhang Xinjun (2) | 6 |
| 22 Nov | Nine Dragons Open | Chao Haimeng (1) | 6 |
| 29 Nov | Hainan Open | Zhang Huilin (1) | 6 |
| 6 Dec | Capital Airline – HNA Real Estate Championship | He Zeyu (1) | 7 |
Web.com Tour qualifiers
The top-five players on the Order of Merit earned Web.com Tour cards for 2016.
| Rank | Player | Country | Events | Prize money (CN¥) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryden Macpherson | Australia | 8 | 769,960 |
| 2 | Josh Geary | New Zealand | 9 | 747,230 |
| 3 | Zhang Xinjun | China | 12 | 545,046 |
| 4 | Dou Zecheng | China | 12 | 483,813 |
| 5 | Eugene Wong | Canada | 11 | 454,768 |
2014 season
The table below shows the initial 2014 schedule. "Date" is the ending date of each event. OWGR is the number of Official World Golf Ranking points awarded for that tournament. All tournaments had a purse of ¥1,200,000.
| Date | Tournament | Winner | OWGR pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Apr | Mission Hills Haikou Open | Wang Jeung-hun (1) | 6 |
| 4 May | Buick Open | Sam Chien (1) | 6 |
| 18 May | United Investment Real Estate Wuhan Open | Brett Drewitt (1) | 6 |
| 8 Jun | Lanhai Open | David McKenzie (1) | 6 |
| 15 Jun | Earls Beijing Open | Zhang Xinjun (1) | 6 |
| 10 Aug | Yulongwan Yunnan Open | Gunn Charoenkul (1) | 6 |
| 7 Sep | Chateau Junding Penglai Open | Todd Baek (1) | 6 |
| 14 Sep | Cadillac Championship | David McKenzie (2) | 6 |
| 28 Sep | Jianye Tianzhu Henan Open | Li Haotong (1) | 6 |
| 16 Nov | Nine Dragons Open | Jin Cheng (a, 1) | 6 |
| 23 Nov | Hainan Open | Li Haotong (2) | 6 |
| 30 Nov | CTS Tycoon Championship | Li Haotong (3) | 6 |
Web.com Tour qualifiers
The top five players on the Order of Merit earned Web.com Tour cards for 2015.
| Rank | Player | Country | Events | Prize money (CN¥) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Li Haotong | China | 12 | 967,788 |
| 2 | Zhang Xinjun | China | 8 | 650,600 |
| 3 | Brett Drewitt | Australia | 12 | 585,196 |
| 4 | Sam Chien | United States | 12 | 573,951 |
| 5 | Todd Baek | South Korea | 11 | 535,920 |
Source[7]
Order of Merit winners
| Year | Winner | Earnings (¥) |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Dou Zecheng | 1,144,350 |
| 2015 | Bryden Macpherson | 769,960 |
| 2014 | Li Haotong | 967,788 |
| 2009 | Kurt Barnes | 264,750 |
| 2008 | Liao Guiming | 375,125 |
| 2007 | Li Chao | 652,125 |
| 2006 | Zhang Lianwei | 540,000 |
| 2005 | Li Chao |
References
- ↑ "PGA Tour's China Series delayed due to issues". ESPN. Associated Press. 10 May 2017.
- ↑ "PGA Tour to be part of new circuit in China". Golf Channel. 3 November 2013.
- ↑ "China Tour-PGA Tour China Series Announces First Portion of 2014 Schedule and Two Qualifying Sites". PGA Tour China. 29 January 2014.
- ↑ Livsey, Laury (17 April 2014). "Zhang Makes History by Hitting First Tee Shot on PGA Tour China Series". PGA Tour.
- ↑ "The PGA Tour Sells Golf to China". Fortune. 25 October 2016.
- ↑ "A Tour for China's Rising Stars". Asian PGA. 2005. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007.
- ↑ 2014 PGA Tour China Order or Merit