Asian Tour beginning to feel the

pinch of the Credit Crunch

The global credit crunch is beginning to affect the Asian Tour schedule.
This week's SAIL Open in India will be played - but with very much reduced prize money than was publicised originally.
Launched as a $400,000 event in 2008 and won by New Zealand's Mark Brown, a quarter of the purse has been wiped out due to the Indian currency losing value.
"In rupee terms it is the same (20.4 million)," a spokesman for the sponsors told reporters on Tuesday. "We committed a certain amount last year but payment has to be made to players in dollars."
The event, which starts on Wednesday, has been switched from Jaypee Greens in Noida to the Classic Golf Resort in Gurgaon near Delhi after the course was offered free of charge.
"The Classic sponsorship is worth $100,000 otherwise we would have had to pay for it," former Asian Tour players' committee member Amandeep Johl told Reuters.
Indian Johl, 40, who still plays on the circuit, said the global economic slump could hit the tour hard in the future
He said the $500,000 Jaidee Invitational in Thailand next month, named after top tour pro Thongchai Jaidee, was in doubt due to sponsorship problems.
"It may be postponed or scrapped completely," said Johl.
Thaworn Wiratchant, 42, aiming to equal fellow Thai Thongchai's record of 11 Asian Tour wins this week, said he hoped the Jaidee Invitational could be saved.
India's Jyoti Randhawa, the SAIL Open favourite after winning this month's Thailand Open, chose to accentuate the positives on the Asian Tour.
"The good thing is at least we're having golf tournaments," said Randhawa. "People are losing jobs and not getting to work but the tournaments are going on."
Some believe the launch of the new Australasian Tour could hurt the Asian Tour still further.
The Asian Tour has accused the pro circuits of Australia, China and South Korea of trying to muscle in on its turf.
The proposal is for the new tour to be launched with six events this year, with plans to extend it in 2010.
Johl said the Australasian Tour could give an excuse to sponsors, already under financial strain, to back out of Asian Tour events

John Daly sheds three stones and aims

to play on European Tour in May

FROM THE IRISHTIMES.COM WEBSITE
By PHILIP REID
John Daly may be taking life one day at a time in his rehabilitation, but the two-time major champion, who is on a six-month suspension from the US Tour, remains on target for a return to tournament play on the European Tour in May that would include an appearance at the 3 Irish Open at Baltray.
Although negotiations are continuing with the European Tour, Daly, who was suspended by the PGA Tour in the United States after a number of incidents, including hitting a golf ball off a beer can during a pro-am and, then, last October being photographed in an orange jail suit when taken to a police cell in North Carolina to sleep off the effects of alcohol, aims to return to tournament play in a stint on this side of the Atlantic that his management hopes will take in the Spanish Open, Italian Open and, then, the Irish Open.
Daly’s last competitive outing came in the Australia Masters last November, where he missed the cut. Since then, the player has lost almost three stone in weight in a fitness and dietary regime and, although recovering from a rib injury that affected him for much of last year, has also managed to work on elements of his game with his coach, Rick Smith, in Florida.
The weight loss came about after player and coach watched video reruns of Daly’s win in the 1995 Open at St Andrews.
“He’s looking forward to regaining his place in the game,” Daly’s agent, Bud Martin, told the Golf Channel in outlining his intended return to life on tour.
Daly, the “Wild Thing,” is in the middle of his second suspension from the US Tour, this latest ban marking what he called the “low point” of a chequered, 18-year career that has seen him reach highs like winning the 1991 US PGA Championship and the 1995 British Open along with lows that include two visits to rehab for alcohol addiction, gambling losses and four marriages.
The US PGA Tour suspension was imposed after a series of incidents last year that culminated in a photograph of the player in an orange jail suit being posted on the internet.
Both manager and coach believe Daly is finally headed in the right direction, in terms of getting his life together and in getting his golf game back, and they view a run of tournaments in Europe as his desired option.
Daly had originally planned on playing the Gulf Swing – Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai in January – but pulled out of those tournaments and has set his sights on a return in May, leading up to the Irish Open at Co Louth on May 14th-17th.
His manager believes he will be “100 per cent” recovered from his rib injury by then.
Daly, who is ranked 761st in the world, last played in the Irish Open at Druids Glen in 1999, where he missed the cut, while his best finish in the event was as runner-up to Bernhard Langer at Mount Juliet in 1994.
Meanwhile, the European Tour returns from its fortnight hiatus with the Madeira Island Open this week, where Damien McGrane, up to 137th in the latest rankings, which puts him just one spot behind Paul McGinley, heads a five-strong Irish contingent that also includes Michael Hoey, Jonathan Caldwell, Michael McGeady and Simon Thornton.
Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson is now only 0.52 points behind Tiger Woods at the top of the rankings.
Mickelson has never been number one, but the left-hander’s victory at the WGC-CA Championship in Florida, his second win in four weeks and the first World Championship success of his career, has lifted him back above Sergio Garcia into second place.
It was Garcia who had a chance to overtake Woods last week, but the 29-year-old Spaniard finished down in 31st spot.
Not that victory would have done it for Garcia in any case. Woods needed to finish 27th or worse, but tied for ninth.
With all three now taking time off, the battle for the top spot goes to next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill – and two weeks after that comes the US Masters at Augusta.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times

NO EISENHOWER TROPHY BUT LEVEN

GS OFFICIALS GET TWO FROM R&A

The St Andrews Trophy and the Jacques Leglise Trophy - the men's and boys' silverware at stake in Great Britain & Ireland v Continent of Europe amateur international fixtures - will be on display in the Leven Golfing Society clubhouse during the Scottish champion of champions' tournament on the weekend of April 4 and 5.
"We were disappointed that we couldn't have the Eisenhower Trophy (the Scottish Golf Union granted a request by winning team member Gavin Dear for it to be loaned to Murrayshall Golf Club to be put on show the same weekend), but we have managed to reserve both the St Andrews Trophy and the Jacques Leglise Trophy for the champions' weekend as some of the field have played in at least one of the matches," said Archie Shanks, the Leven GS sports convener.
Both GB&I v Continent matches come under the auspices of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, St Andrews.

Olazabal to be Monty's Ryder

Cup right-hand man - if

Spaniard is not in 2010 team

FROM THE TELEGRAPH.CO.UK WEBSITE
By Oliver Brown
Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie says he wants Jose Olazabal as his assistant in Wales, but only if the Spaniard fails to make the team as a player.
"Olazabal will be there, if not as a player then on the administrative side," Montgomerie told The Daily Telegraph at Gleneagles. "He is one of the very important men who can help this victory."
While Olazabal, pictured, debated about whether or not to put his name forward for the captaincy at Celtic Manor, Montgomerie confirmed he would stand and the Scot was subsequently appointed by the European Tour players' committee.
It is now anticipated that Olazabal will lead Europe at the 2012 Ryder Cup match in Chicago.
"Jose Maria and I spoke at length in Dubai and I asked him how he felt," Montgomerie said. "He said, 'If you don't mind, give me a chance to make the team on merit, a chance to play'.
"So of course I would want him to say that. He brings incredible passion to any team.
"He is a very proud European and that's what I need behind the scenes; someone who works not just for the team but for the European cause as well. This is a family. You need great help below you and that is what we're going to have."