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"Exciting times for the Asian Tour" says Martin at halfway mark

The Asian Tour's scorecard from the front half of its 2006 season has yielded all the right numbers, says its chief executive Louis Martin.

From the curtain-raising event in Okinawa till the Bangkok Airways Open a fortnight ago, the Tour has celebrated great performances, successfully launched new events and heralded stars in the making.

After 16 tournaments, the Tour now enters its traditional summer break before resuming in full earnest from mid-August. Martin, who has been at the helm of the Tour since 2004, gave his thumbs-up for the first half of the year.

"We are absolutely delighted. Our players have produced some remarkable golf and their success in co-sanctioned events with Europe was outstanding and it showed how far we have progressed," said Martin.

"The Pakistan Open and Aamby Valley Asian Masters (India) were welcome additions onto our Schedule which reinforces the growth of the game in Asia. We have a great ambassador in Jeev Milkha Singh leading the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit and talented young players keep emerging onto the scene. These are exciting times for the Asian Tour," he added.

Singh, who qualified and then played in all four rounds at the US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York last week, has led the Asian brigade with gusto, highlighted by his superb victory in the Volvo China Open. With two other runner-up finishes, Singh, the son of an Olympic runner, leads the UBS Order of Merit with US$441,758.

"I would like to win our Order of Merit title," said Singh, who also has playing rights in Europe and Japan. "I'll be splitting my schedule during the latter half of the year and if I play well enough in Asia, it should be good for me. Winning in China was a real highlight for sure."

Korea's Charlie Wi and Singaporean number one Mardan Mamat joined Singh as winners from the eight co-sanctioned events staged with Europe this season. Mardan wrote history by becoming the first Singaporean to win a European Tour co-sanctioned event where he led from start to finish at the OSIM Singapore Masters.

“This is what I have dreamed of, to win as big a tournament as this in Singapore,” said Mardan. “It is the biggest achievement in my life. I hope I have inspired all the young Singaporeans," said Mardan, whose golfing interest started from his caddying days.

The growing strength of the Asian Tour was also reflected positively with seven first-time winners emerging this season. England's Chris Rodgers, Korea's Suk Jong-ryul, South African veteran Hendrik Buhrmann, Kane Webber of Australia and Japan's Tandahiro Takayama tasted their maiden success but none was sweeter than Thailand's Prom Meesawat, who brushed aside Michelle-mania to win the SK Telecom Open in Korea.

"My dream has come true. Over the last couple of months I was close. This is a present to my mom (Somsri Meesawat) as she passed away three years ago," said Prom, who beat a top field in Korea on a week that teenage sensation Michelle Wie made the halfway cut against the men for the first time and later finished 35th.

India's Shiv Kapur, last year's rookie of the year, continues to mature into a top-class talent, and will play in his first major tournament alongside Asian Tour members Unho Park and Jarrod Lyle, both from Australia, at the British Open next month after a successful qualifying campaign in Singapore. Korea's Park Jun-won, still only 19, showed he is also a wonderful prospect after finishing second in the Philippine Open.

Burhmann was another popular winner. Since plying his trade in Asia in 1995, he has posted four runner-up finishes and 20 top-10s but the first win remained elusive. At the start of the season, he told his friends at home that "before I die, I want to win one in Asia."

He didn't have to wait for too long as the South African claimed victory in Aamby Valley. "I'm feeling great. I said earlier in the year to some people that my dream is to win on the Asian Tour before I die. They laughed at me but I really meant it. I'm really happy," said the 42-year-old Buhrmann.

From the 16 events staged, 11 of the winning scores have been in double digits under-par, with the lowest being 25-under-par while the highest winning total was three-under-par 281 when Chawalit Plaphol of Thailand won the Bangkok Airways Open. Australian rookie Simon Nash, who was an All-American during his college golf days in the United States, was amongst those feeling the heat in Asia in every respect. "I’ve played against some really good players in Asia," he said.

"I think the Asian Tour has the thickest rough that I’ve played at, especially the courses that I’ve been this year in India and the Philippines. I've learned to play smart and not to go for birdies. When I play in America, I just go for birdie on every hole."

June 20, 2006