For the first time since the controversial OneAsia Tour teed off in April, it goes head-to-head this week with the rival Asian Tour in a battle for supremacy. OneAsia, which has brought together Tours from China, South Korea, and Australia to form a "super series" that it hopes can rival the European and US Tours, sanctions the 800,000-dollar Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open.
Up against it is the Asian Tour's 500,000-dollar Macau Open. The two Tours remain at loggerheads after the Asian Tour said OneAsia was acting unethically by stealing its tournaments, conscious that its position as the main organisational body for golf across the region is under threat.
The Korea Open was previously an Asian Tour event before OneAsia took it over, as was the Volvo China Open, played earlier this season. OneAsia has won the battle of the marquee names this week with organisers dangling sufficient cash carrots to lure young hotshots Ryo Ishikawa of Japan, Danny Lee of New Zealand and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy.
They are sure to grab headlines with McIlroy, 20, taking the game by storm since turning professional in 2007. A string of stunning performances, including runner-up finishes in the European Masters and Hong Kong Open, eventually culminated in victory in this year's Dubai Desert Classic. Ishikawa's rise to fame has been just as sensational.
In 2007, he became the youngest winner ever of a men's regular tournament on the Japan Golf Tour by winning the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup as a 15-year-old amateur. He turned pro in 2008 and has since won three more titles including two this year aged 17. Completing the triumvirate of golf prodigies is Lee, who made history this year by becoming the youngest winner of a European Tour event, lifting the Johnnie Walker Classic as an 18-year-old amateur.
But it appears that few other golfers of note will be playing at the Woo Jeung Hills Golf Club near Seoul. OneAsia officials set aside 10 spots for Asian Tour members but an Asian Tour official said this week none of their players had requested permission to take part.
That leaves the tournament with a field largely made of little-known Koreans and Chinese. Over at the Macau Golf and Country Club will be a line-up of Asian Tour regulars, led by the likes of Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant, Filipino Angelo Que, China's Zhang Lianwei and more than 20 Australians playing for less money.
Ten-time Asian Tour winner Wiratchant is seen as a favourite but Taiwan's Lin Wen-Tang, coming off a five-month hiatus, feels he could surprise on his return. Regardless of who wins in the popularity stakes this week, both Tours are facing tough times with the global financial crisis hurting sponsors who are reviewing their sporting commitments. The Asian Tour has lost several tournaments while OneAsia initially launched this year with six and a claim that every event would offer at least one million dollars. They are now down to five with only three of them meeting the cash pledge.
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