Record numbers for Singapore Open qualifying

A record-breaking number of 235 players will tee off on the Tanjong course at Sentosa Golf Club on October 29-30 in a bid to qualify for the Barclays Singapore Open 2007 in November.

One of the few national Opens to host qualifiers for its tournament, a total of ten slots will be allocated over two days of the Singapore Qualifiers, giving scratch golfers a chance to vie for the US$4 million prize purse. Organisers not only received an increase of over 20 percent in participation from last year’s qualifier, but will also host an international field of players from 25 countries, five more as compared to last year.

Entries for the Singapore qualifiers closed on October 10th and players entering hail from as far as Canada, Sweden and England to the nearer shores of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Singapore players displayed strong support for the national Open with the biggest showing of 52 players registered, a significant increase from last year’s 36. Among them are Goh Kun Yang, Koh Dengshan, Jonathan Woo and Lam Zhi Qun, ranked within the top 10 in Singapore Golf Association’s national squad. The Thai contingent comes in second with 35 players followed by the Australians with 25 players.

Among notable players to watch are India’s Harmeet Kahlon, Felix Casas of the Philippines, Chinese Taipei’s Hong Chia-yuh, Dominique Boulet of Hong Kong and Myanmar’s Chan Han. Kahlon won the 2002 Hero Honda Masters on the Asian Tour while Casas was successful in the 2001 Philippine Open. Hong was dubbed ‘Asia’s Tiger Woods’ after a glittering amateur career but has still to fulfill his potential as a professional. Boulet is making a name for himself as a television commentator but the former Tour regular showed he can still play by recently qualifying for next month’s Hong Kong Open over his home course at Fanling. Han is the brother of Asian Tour executive chairman and former Singapore Open winner Kyi Hla Han.

The qualifying players will find themselves battling against world’s top players such as Phil Mickelson (world number two), Ernie Els, world number four), Adam Scott (world number six), K.J Choi (world number nine) and Vijay Singh (world number 12). The qualifiers will be played on Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong course while the main tournament will be at the newly-revamped Serapong course.

“The overwhelming response to the qualifiers reinforces our commitment to make the Barclays Singapore Open a true Open, creating an opportunity for everyone to be part of the action. For me personally, what makes this so exciting is that this tournament is attracting players from all over the world to converge on Singapore and compete for what is the largest prize money for a National Open in Asia.” said Bob Tan, chairman of the Barclays Singapore Open steering committee.

Pioneering as the first tournament in Asia to hold a regional qualifier outside its host country, a qualifier was also held in Japan on 1 October 2007 at Shinyo Country Club. Two slots were allotted to Katsumasa Miyamoto and Norio Shinozaki, who have both earned their chance to take on the goliaths of world golf after prevailing in the Japan Qualifying Round.

Miyamoto, six-time winner at the Japan Golf Tour, and Shinozaki who finished first at the ANA Open this year, will join fellow Japanese favourite Shingo Katayama in a quest to shine amongst the international line-up of players.

"The strength of entries to the regional qualifier underlines the tournament’s growing international appeal and with just two weeks to go, we are looking forward to an exciting qualifier ahead of the main tournament” said Robert Bird, executive director of Sentosa Golf Club.

The Barclays Singapore Open is a full-field Asian Tour event and will once again be held on Sentosa’s par-71 Serapong championship course from 1-4 November 2007. Leading international and Asian golfers will vie for the US$4 million prize purse, Asia’s richest national Open.

The tournament, which started in 1961, has grown from strength to strength since Sentosa revived it in 2005 after a three-year break. Starting with a prize purse of US$2 million in 2005, it was raised to US$3million in 2006, and will reach US$5 million in 2008.

Attracting top golfing stars and leading Asian players, the Barclays Singapore Open is benchmarked against the highest standards in the world of golf, and the long rough of the Serapong Course at Sentosa Golf Club has proven to be a severe challenge to world's finest players. Nonetheless, Adam Scott has won the tournament for two years running, and he returns to attempt a hat-trick win in 2007, after beating Ernie Els by two shots in a three-hole play-off in 2006.

Other star players confirmed for the 2007 edition include Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, K.J Choi, Vijay Singh, Angel Cabrera, Shingo Katayama, Lee Westwood, Nick O’Hern and Charl Schwartzel.

October 22, 2007

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