Singapore: The Asian Tour’s tumultuous partnerships with Golf Saudi and LIV Golf Investments were 18 months in the making.
“There’s no secret that we’d been discussing a partnership with Golf Saudi for quite a while,” said Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Asian Tour.
In a video interview with the Asian Golf Industry Federation, Cho said: “We entered into a 10-year arrangement to sanction the Saudi International, which is going to be our season-opener starting 2022.
“A lot of the same parties were involved with LIV Golf, which is funded by the PIF (Public Investment Fund). So, we’ve been in discussions with the relevant parties for about 18 months now, working very diligently in the background on this long-term partnership.
“We’re very happy to have reached agreement and look forward to a long future doing business with them.
“In terms of what it means for the Asian Tour, obviously our recovery from Covid is a big thing, but aside from the Covid pandemic, it allows us to build a schedule based around a series of events which is going to be highly lucrative with top players playing and it builds the backbone for our Tour.
“For the Asian Tour (historically) it’s been a bit of a scramble at times. We always sort of get 25, 26 or 27 events together on the Asian Tour. But it’s a bit of a struggle at times.
“It’s a bit stressful doing year-on-year contracts and trying to put the schedule together again every year. This gives us the security to look forward to a schedule many, many months in advance.”
Golf Saudi (Executive) and the Asian Tour (Full Business) are both members of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.
*The full interview with Cho can be viewed by clicking here.