A double triumph by Asian golfers on the European and US PGA Tours over the weekend was hailed yesterday as a significant milestone for the game.
India's Jeev Singh held off heavyweights Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia to win the Volvo Masters in Spain by one stroke for only the third victory ever by an Asian in Europe.
On the other side of the Atlantic, South Korea's K.J. Choi was too good for the likes of Ernie Els as he swung his way to a four-shot victory at the Chrysler Championship to post his fourth career US win.
PHOTO: AFP
It is the first time that Asians had won on the same weekend on two of the world's leading circuits and Asian Tour chairman Kyi Hla- han said the feats reinforced the belief that Asian golf is making giant strides.
"The wonderful performances by Jeev and Choi over the weekend reflect positively on the Asian Tour and the growing standard of play amongst our players," he said.
"Their triumphs will inspire Asians to aim for higher goals, including winning the majors," he said.
Over the past several years a number of Asian golfers have won European Tour co-sanctioned events in Asia but doing it on European soil has been a rare occurrence -- only Choi and Taiwan's Lu Liang-huan have managed it before.
"I have no doubt that Choi and Jeev's success will pave the way for more Asians to make their mark on the world stage," Han said.
Singh's win was the biggest of his career and he believes he can do it again.
"It's the biggest victory of my career so far. I think this is going to stay with me for the rest of my life," said Singh, whose triumph was overshadowed somewhat by Harrington clinching the European Order of Merit title.
"It's going to give me more confidence and hopefully I can move on from here to even bigger tournaments," he said.
Choi is Asia's best known golfing export and his success over the weekend ensured a top-30 finish on the US PGA Tour money list, which comes with an invitation to the US Masters next April, the year's first major.
Han believes the Korean, who cut his teeth on the Asian Tour, will savor another return to Augusta National Golf Club, where he finished third in 2004.
"He's shown a great liking for the Masters and we have every reason to believe that Choi can go on to lift a major title in the very near future," Han said.
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