Each event is likely to field between 120 and 156 players, not restricted to Chinese players, with purses of around $200,000(£125,000/€145,000).

The new venture was launched by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, China Golf Association chief Zhang Xiaoning and China Olympic Sports Industry President Sun Liping at the World Golfing Championships' HSBC Champions event in Shanghai.

"We are very pleased to announce the establishment of PGA Tour China, which builds upon our longstanding relationship with the China Golf Association," Finchem said.

"PGA Tour China will provide open competition on a quality tour for elite players from China and other countries and the opportunity to advance to the world stage.

"We plan to provide access to the Web.com Tour for the season's top players."

The Web.com Tour is the developmental tour for the US based PGA Tour and provides an opportunity for those who have failed to qualify for the Tour to earn their PGA card.

The new tour will be hoping to provide similar opportunities to that of Guan Tianlang who made the cut at the US Masters aged 14



This will be the third tour, owned and operated by the PGA Tour, to be held outside of the United States, the PGA Tour LatinoAmerica and PGA Tour Canada being the other two.

Fears that the new tour will pose a threat to the European Tour and the OneAsia Tour, which have had a presence in China for several years, have been dismissed by Finchem.

"We don't see any effect on either OneAsia or the European Tour's interests in co-sanctioning events in certain places," he said.

"Matter of fact, if we're just talking about China, the extent to which they accelerate those things would be a positive.

"It is an avenue for elite player participation."

The European Tour has been playing official money tournaments in China since 2004, holding two events there this year, while the OneAsia Tour is scheduled to hold four of its 11 in the country this year.

The threat the PGA Tour China poses to these tours is likely to be minimal due to the small purses on offer at the events, however, that may change should it prove successful and grow.

Zhang claimed the move will offer a great starting point for Chinese golfers and will prepare players for the Olympics, which is returning to the Olympic programme at Rio 2016 after a 112 year absence.

"We have seen great advancement of Chinese elite golfer development in the last few years, and the creation of this tour is the next positive step forward for this sport in China," Zhang said.

"This will raise the level of golf in China even further and prepare players from China to participate in the Olympics and other significant global competitions.

"We are happy to partner with the PGA Tour, the world's leading golf organisation, and to work together in this effort." 

Qualifying procedures have not yet been announced for the new circuit, nor the number of top finishers to gain a place on the Web.com Tour.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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