It's raining moolah at the Asian Tour

The 2008 golf season in Asia will see 11 star-studded events with more than $1 million as prize money on offer

NEW DELHI: The Asian Golf Tour will have at least 11 events with more than $1-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 figure 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 February 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 that it has upped the purse by $100,000 the last two times.

Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han says 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, which offered $500,000 and $300,000 respectively in the inaugural year, 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 increase its stake to $500,000 next year, from $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 with the staging of the inaugural $300,000 Asian Tour International from January 24-27, the venue of which is yet to be confirmed.

The prestigious Johnnie Walker Classic will visit India for the first time from February 28-March 2.