Minority Golf Magazine editors
The Asian Tour is the principal men’s professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for World Golf Ranking points.
The Asian Tour is administered from Singapore. It is controlled by a board with a majority of professional golfers, and a Tournament Players Committee of its player members, supported by an executive team. The chairman of the board is the Indonesian businessman Jimmy Masrin.
History
The first season in the current lineage was played in 1995, although there had been earlier attempts to create an Asian Tour. The Asian PGA was formed in July 1994 at a meeting in Hong Kong attended by PGA representatives from eight countries. In 1998 the Asian Tour became the sixth member of the International Federation of PGA Tour.
In 2002, the tour moved its office from Hong Kong to Malaysia, and in 2004 the tour was taken over by a new organization established by the players, who had been in dispute with the previous management. In 2007 it moved to new headquarters on the resort island of Sentosa in Singapore,[1] which is also the home to what was at that time the tour’s richest individual sanctioned tournament, the Singapore Open.
In 2009 a rival tour, the OneAsia Tour, was established. Relations between the two tours are hostile.
In 2010, the Asian Tour launched the Asian Development Tour (ADT) as a developmental circuit. The first year saw five events being played while in 2015, a record 28 tournaments with US$2.2 million was offered to ADT players.
Players
Hideki Matsuyama
Hideki Matsuyama
Hideki Matsuyama is a Japanese professional golfer. He won the Asian Amateur Championship in 2010 and 2011. He is a five-time PGA Tour winner and an eight-time Japan Golf Tour winner. On 19 June 2017, Matsuyama became the world No. 2-ranked player on the Official World Golf Ranking after his runner-up finish at the 2017 U.S. Open.
Most of the leading players on tour are Asian, but players from other parts of the world also participate (as of 2007 the country with most representatives profiled on the tour’s official site in Australia).
In 2006 the Asian Tour became the most prestigious men’s tour on which a woman had made the half-way cut in recent times when Michelle Wie did so at the SK Telecom Open in South Korea.
The men’s Asian Tour is rich with talent and world-class golfers who regularly contend on the Asian 
Tour, European and PGA Tours…..the following gallery are just a few to watch in 2019. Anthony Kim left is one of many Asian talents to watch in 2019.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the Asian and European Tours. In both 2003 and 2004, Aphibarnrat won his age group at the Junior World Golf Championships.
Picked up golf at the age of four from his father H.S Bhullar. Grew up at Kapurthala Golf Club, in a city located north of India. Enjoys listening to Indian hip-hop and jazz music. Was India’s number one amateur in 2004 and 2006 and claimed a silver medal in the team event at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. Won the World Junior Masters Championship in 2005.
Thongchai Jaidee, born 8 November 1969) is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the Asian Tour and the European Tour. On the Asian Tour, he holds the record for the most career earnings and is second in victories having won 13 times.
Since the advent of golf on the world stage, it has transcended the regional appeal of national sports like Australian football, Soccer, Cricket, and Rugby. Not to diminish the value of all national sports but golf is now on the world stage, and its players are truly world-class. Future issues of Minority Golf Magazine online will present regular coverage of the men and women who comprise the Asian Golf Tour.
