European Tour add another Chinese event

The European Tour has co-sanctioned the 2005 TCL Classic on the Asian Tour, making it the fifth official European Tour event to be played in China in a year, tour officials have announced. The event will be promoted by Parallel Media Group in collaboration with the China Golf Association.

The $1 million event, set for Yalong Bay Golf Club at Sanya, China, will be played Mar. 17-20. The Madeira Island Open, which had been scheduled for those dates, was moved back three weeks to Apr. 7-10.

China has already hosted the Volvo China Open and the Omega Hong Kong Open on the 2005 European Tour schedule. The BMW Asian Open and the Johnnie Walker Classic also will be played in China during April and May.

Colin Montgomerie won the inaugural TCL Classic in 2002, when the event was staged solely by the Asian Tour.

Also, European Tour officials announced that they have agreed to allow players from the American Express Tour de las Americas (TLA) to participate in five European Tour co-sanctioned tournaments in Asia.

Marco Ruiz of Paraguay played in last week's Caltex Masters in Singapore while Argentina's Maurico Molina is scheduled to play in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open in February. The other three invitations will be reserved for the leading money winner on the 2005 TLA circuit, who will be invited to the TCL Classic and the Standard Chartered Indonesia Open in March and the Omega Hong Kong Open in November.

Over the past three years, the TLA and the European Tour have developed a strong relationship. The 2005 European Challenge Tour features six events in Asia co-sanctioned with the TLA

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