Runaway growth could make Asia the world's richest golf zone in just 15 years, outstripping Europe and the United States in a seismic shift for the sport, a senior marketing official said.
"Scary" rises in recreational players and fans will inspire sponsors to pour increasing sums into Asian events, World Sport Group (WSG) chief executive Andrew Georgiou said, describing the region's supremacy as inevitable. "It's going to be huge. I believe in 10 years we're going to have 20-plus five to six million dollar tournaments in this market," Georgiou told AFP in an interview on Friday.
"It's just a function of time and the growth in those markets. It will make it bigger than the European Tour. I think it's probably another five to 10 years after that before it becomes bigger than the US PGA Tour.
Asia has risen from golfing afterthought to burgeoning power in the past decade, and now threatens to compete with the traditional bases of Europe and the United States, where the sport was born and developed. Georgiou, whose company is Asia's leading sports marketing group, said the region's accelerating wealth made it a magnet for sponsors, who will feed off improving performances from local players. Y.E. Yang became Asia's first Major winner in 2009, leading a group of players who have come to prominence in recent years.