The 2008 Asian Tour was the 14th season of the modern Asian Tour (formerly the Asian PGA Tour), the main professional golf tour in Asia (outside of Japan) since it was established in 1995.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2008 season.[1]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse (US$) |
Winner[b] | OWGR points |
Other tours[c] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Feb | Emaar-MGF Indian Masters | India | 2,500,000 |  Shiv Chawrasia (1)
|
26 | EUR | New tournament |
| Singapore Masters | Singapore | – | Cancelled[2] | – | EUR | ||
| 17 Feb | Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open | Indonesia | 1,200,000 |  Felipe Aguilar (n/a)
|
20 | EUR | |
| 23 Feb | SAIL Open Golf Championship | India | 400,000 |  Mark Brown (1)
|
14 | New tournament | |
| 4 Mar | Johnnie Walker Classic | India | £1,250,000 | Mark Brown (2)
|
38 | ANZ, EUR | |
| 9 Mar | Maybank Malaysian Open | Malaysia | 2,000,000 | Arjun Atwal (7)
|
24 | EUR | |
| 16 Mar | Ballantine's Championship | South Korea | €2,000,000 |  Graeme McDowell (1)
|
28 | EUR, KOR | New tournament |
| 23 Mar | Asian Tour International | Thailand | 300,000 |  Lin Wen-tang (3)
|
14 | New tournament | |
| 6 Apr | Philippine Open | Philippines | 300,000 |  Angelo Que (2)
|
14 | ||
| 20 Apr | Volvo China Open | China | 2,200,000 |  Damien McGrane (n/a)
|
20 | EUR | |
| 27 Apr | BMW Asian Open | China | 2,300,000 | Darren Clarke (n/a)
|
32 | EUR | |
| 4 May | GS Caltex Maekyung Open | South Korea | ₩600,000,000 |  Hwang Inn-choon (1)
|
14 | KOR | |
| 11 May | Pine Valley Beijing Open | China | 1,000,000 |  Hiroyuki Fujita (n/a)
|
16 | JPN | |
| 8 Jun | Bangkok Airways Open | Thailand | 300,000 |  Thaworn Wiratchant (10)
|
14 | ||
| 29 Jun | Singha Thailand PGA Championship | Thailand | 500,000 | Mo Joong-kyung (2)
|
14 | New tournament | |
| 9 Aug | Worldwide Selangor Masters | Malaysia | 310,000 |  Ben Leong (1)
|
14 | New tournament | |
| 24 Aug | Brunei Open | Brunei | 300,000 |  Rick Kulacz (1)
|
14 | ||
| 31 Aug | Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational | Indonesia | 350,000 | Scott Hend (1)
|
14 | ||
| 21 Sep | Mercuries Taiwan Masters | Taiwan | 500,000 | Lu Wen-teh (5)
|
14 | ||
| 28 Sep | Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open | Japan | 1,850,000 | Hideto Tanihara (n/a)
|
20 | JPN | New tournament |
| 5 Oct | Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open | South Korea | ₩1,000,000,000 | Bae Sang-moon (2)
|
18 | KOR | |
| 12 Oct | Hero Honda Indian Open | India | 1,000,000 |  Liang Wenchong (2)
|
14 | ||
| 19 Oct | Midea China Classic | China | 500,000 | Noh Seung-yul (1)
|
14 | ||
| 26 Oct | Macau Open | Macau | 500,000 | David Gleeson (2)
|
14 | ||
| 2 Nov | Iskandar Johor Open | Malaysia | 500,000 |  Retief Goosen (n/a)
|
14 | ||
| 16 Nov | Barclays Singapore Open | Singapore | 5,000,000 | Jeev Milkha Singh (6)
|
38 | ||
| 23 Nov | UBS Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | 2,250,000 | Lin Wen-tang (4)
|
32 | EUR | |
| 7 Dec | Hana Bank Vietnam Masters | Vietnam | 500,000 | Thongchai Jaidee (9)
|
14 | ||
| 14 Dec | Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open | Cambodia | 300,000 | Thongchai Jaidee (10)
|
14 | ||
| 21 Dec | Volvo Masters of Asia | Thailand | 750,000 |  Lam Chih Bing (1)
|
20 |
Unofficial events
The following events were sanctioned by the Asian Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse ($) |
Winner | OWGR points |
Other tours[c] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov | HSBC Champions | China | 5,000,000 |  Sergio García
|
52 | AFR,[d] ANZ,[e] EUR | Limited-field event |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was titled as the UBS Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[3][4]
| Position | Player | Prize money ($) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeev Milkha Singh |
1,452,702 |
| 2 | Lin Wen-tang |
844,735 |
| 3 | Mark Brown |
778,038 |
| 4 | Liang Wenchong |
521,428 |
| 5 | David Gleeson |
483,121 |
Awards
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Players' Player of the Year | Jeev Milkha Singh |
[5] |
| Rookie of the Year | Noh Seung-yul |
[5] |
Notes
- ^ One further tournament was scheduled but was cancelled.
- ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Asian Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Asian Tour members.
- ^ a b AFR − Sunshine Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; EUR − European Tour; JPN − Japan Golf Tour; KOR − Korean Tour.
- ^ Sunshine Tour unofficial event
- ^ PGA Tour of Australasia unofficial event
References
- ^ "Tournament schedule 2008 season". Asian Tour. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- ^ "Singapore Masters cancelled". Irish Examiner. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
- ^ "2008 UBS Order of Merit". Asian Tour. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ Ananthanarayanan, N. (17 December 2008). "Jeev Milkha Singh to cap year of anguish with Asian glory". Reuters. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
Singh, whose earnings in Asia top $1.4 million, will receive the order of merit award at the Volvo Masters of Asia in Thailand.
- ^ a b "Jeev grabs top honours at Asian Tour Awards". Two Circles. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
The 37-year-old Jeev was named the Players' 'Player of the Year'... The Rookie of the Year honour went to teen titan Noh Seung-yul...