Tour chief says children need golfing heroes

Asian Tour chief Kyi Hla Han believes the region must continue to create golfing heroes to inspire more children to learn and excel in the sport.

Han predicted exciting times for golf in Asia, with the Tour expanding greatly and the region's players responding with eye-catching performances on the international front. He is counting on the Asian challenge to sparkle at this week's Masters Tournament, the year's first Major, to reinforce the growing standard of play.

"It's a growing period of time for Asia. Jeev Milkha Singh and Yang Yong-eun earned invitations to the Masters on merit by being inside the world's top-50 and I feel we need more players like them to get into Majors," said Han, the Tour's Executive Chairman.

"We now have more tournaments on the Asian Tour and our players are gaining more experience. Through our World Ranking status, there's every opportunity for our players to play their way into the Majors. That gives added incentive for our guys to perform."

Han, who hails from Myanmar and based at the Asian Tour's headquarters in Singapore, attended his first International Federation of PGA Tour meeting as the Asian Tour's Executive Chairman in Sawgrass earlier this week before arriving at Augusta National.

He hailed Singh and Yang for playing their way into the Masters, joining former Asian Tour stalwart K.J. Choi in the elite field this week.

"The way Jeev and Yang qualified for the Masters should provide an inspiration to a lot of guys. It's a positive step. Jeev, in particular, has played well over the past year and has reaped the fruits of his labour," said Han.

"His achievements are great for junior development and young players in Asia as they will want to follow in his footsteps. I think what Jeev has done will serve as a great inspiration. We need to create more heroes where young players in Asia can look up to them."

Han knows that hard work and dedication are the key to success and he needs to only look at Fijian Vijay Singh as an example. During the 1980s, Han and Singh, a former Masters champion, were roommates on Tour for three years before the big Fijian made it big in the United States.

"Vijay started his career in Asia. He played on the Malaysian Tour, the old Asian circuit before moving on to Africa, Europe and finally the PGA Tour and winning Majors," said Han.

"It's the right path to follow. The only way Vijay got to where he is today was through pure hard work. All the young Asian players should follow in that footstep, very much like how Jeev has also worked so hard after his injuries."

Han said that Vijay would spend almost the entire day playing or practising at Royal Johor Country Club in Malaysia, where they were based previously. "During the off weeks, Vijay would hit golf balls first thing at the range in the morning, play golf all day, train and then practice again till dark.

"At night, he would go down the range to pick up balls with a flash light. He would also be running around the course to get stronger. Playing in Asia, you get to play on different courses, different grasses and sample different kinds of food. It's a good learning curve which Vijay and Jeev have taken that route to success," Han said.

April 4, 2007

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