|
 The JGTO, along with the well-established China Golf Association,
Korean Tour and Australian PGA have seen the golf market in the
region muddied by a turf war between the Asian Tour and OneAsia
circuits over recent years.
The Asian Tour resumed merger talks with the European Tour last
month but JGTO official Kenji Tanaka said China, Australia, Korea,
Japan and others were better off running their own circuits rather
than signing up to a single overlord.
"It's necessary to have individual country tours because if there is
only one tour, only a limited number of players can play that tour,"
he told Reuters through a translator at last week's Singapore Open.
"Right now, we are a member of the (International Golf)
Federation... we are very much satisfied with that situation. Also
we have lots of historical tournaments in Japan, some are 40 years
old."
The JGTO is the largest circuit in the continent with 25 events for
the 2016 season, offering a wealthier prize pool and more
tournaments than the Asian or OneAsia Tours.
Tanaka said his body would like to expand to 30 events with the help
of the European and Asian Tours as well as the U.S. PGA Tour, who
made a big drive in the continent by setting up the 12-tournament
PGA Tour of China in 2014.
FIRST MAJOR
"As you know, the domestic Japan tournaments start in April. During
the winter, its too cold to have a tournament in Japan. It snowed in
Tokyo last week, so it would be nice to have co-sanctioned events
during that time," he said.
"Then the players can prepare for April start. There is still room
since there is a gap after next week."
[to top of second column] |
The Singapore Open and the Myanmar Open, which starts on Thursday,
are two of four events the JGTO co-organize with the Asian Tour,
with the Panasonic Open and Asia Pacific Diamond Cup taking place in
Japan later in the year.
After next week's Myanmar event, the JGTO takes a two-month break
before the Token Homemate Cup tees off in Nagoya on April 17.
Tanaka said increasing tournament numbers overseas would also help
Japanese male players improve their chances of winning a first
major, saying he wanted more to follow Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo
Ishikawa's example of playing around the world.
"This will be an advantage for our players to experience other
countries and other golf courses and communicate with other players
so they improve technique," he said as he watched South Korean Song
Young-han pip world number one Jordan Spieth to the Singapore title
on Monday.
"Foreign golf courses are different. It is easy to travel inside
Japan but for the young players going outside to learn something
different benefits them."
(Editing by John O'Brien)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
