2014 Asian Development Tour to have at least 17 events

Kuala Lumpur, Dec 19 (IANS) Malaysia will host the highest number of Asian Development Tour (ADT) golf events in 2014 while the fledgling Tour is expected to break new ground in Sri Lanka in the new season.

Malaysia will form the core schedule for the 2014 ADT season by hosting a total of 12 events in the country, thanks to the strong partnership with the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour.

The Yeangder ADT in Chinese Taipei will also be part of the busy 2014 Schedule as the $120,000 event will be played from Feb 27 to March 2 while the $60,000 Jakarta Classic will be staged July 17-20.

More ADT events are planned across the region with one additional event in Chinese Taipei, Jakarta and Sri Lanka which will be announced in due time.

Through these expected minimum events, a total prize purse of more than $1,110,000 will be on offer in 2014.

The ADT has been a huge success since its inauguration in 2010 as the top-three players at the end of the season will earn prized Asian Tour cards for the following year.

This season, Malaysia staged a total of 10 out of a record 16 events and the impact of the ADT was testament with the success of Nicholas Fung, Iain Steel and Danny Chia, who won a combined total of four ADT titles in the same year.

Fung was the toast of the 2013 season when he won the PGM-UMW Templer Park Masters in June and enjoyed three second place results and three other top-10s which propelled him to the top of the ADT Order of Merit.

By sharpening his game on the ADT, the young and talented Malaysian gained the confidence to earn a 2014 Asian Tour card by finishing inside the top-60 on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

Fung also made giant leaps on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) as the ADT started to offer valuable world ranking points in 2013. Winners on the ADT will receive a minimum of six world ranking points while the top six players and ties will earn points based on a sliding scale.

Fung moved up from 1416th to 235th position in a span of 12 months after notching 33.24 world ranking points courtesy of his superb performances on the Asian Tour and ADT.

The ADT was launched in 2010 with five tournaments before growing to eight in 2011 and 13 last year. By the time the 2013 season concludes in January, it would have offered a record 16 tournaments.