S’pore Open golf championship could return next year

SINGAPORE — After two years in limbo, organiser and rights holder World Sport Group (WSG) is confident of bringing the Singapore Open golf championship back in the first half of next year.

Billed as the “Major” of Asia and as the continent’s richest National Open with prize money of US$6 million (S$7.4 million) when it was last held in 2012, the event went into a hiatus after British bank Barclays failed to renew its five-year sponsorship deal.

Promoted by WSG from 2005, it had attracted many of golf’s luminaries including Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and three-time winner and current world No 1 Adam Scott.

Whether it returns in the same guise remains to be seen, but WSG vice-president for golf Patrick Feizal Joyce said they are working towards keeping its status intact.

“We will try to ensure the value and prominence of the event is maintained,” Joyce told TODAY. “Ultimately this is determined by investment from the corporate sector, primarily the title sponsor.”

Efforts to find a replacement with similar financial muscle as Barclays here proved elusive. But WSG believes it now has “a number of sponsorship initiatives” and these will lead to the championship’s return in 2015. But Joyce added: “We are still in the market looking for the ideal sponsor to take the lead.”

WSG holds the rights to the Singapore Open until 2017 and is financially motivated to revive the event as soon as possible.

Singapore Golf Association president Bob Tan said while nothing has been confirmed, he is fairly certain WSG’s plans will bear fruit.

“They have been working very hard to get sponsors on board for the Open but it’s not been easy,” said Tan. “Singapore companies are just not accustomed to sponsoring a sports event of this magnitude and it has been quite a task trying to convince local businesses to take over the event after Barclays left.

“We’ve spent over S$100 million to organise eight editions from 2005 and it is in everybody’s interest to see we get the Singapore Open up and running again.”

First staged in 1961, the Singapore Open was suspended in 2002 because of sponsorship issues before being revived by WSG three years later.

Tan said the last series of events — sanctioned by the Asian and European Tours — had a global following as it was usually held during the off-Major season in October or November and as a result could attract top golfing names.

But the period coincided with the start of the north-east monsoon that often disrupted play and WSG is now planning a date in the first half of next year to avoid this. An ideal time to attract the big names is before the Major season, which starts with the US Masters in April.

“But a lot depends on what sponsors want and it is for WSG to work with them to get the best deal in the interest of all parties,” said Tan. Joyce added: “We put careful consideration into the date so that we can get the best players.”

Winners since 2005

2005 — Adam Scott (Aus)

2006 — Adam Scott (Aus)

2007 — Angel Cabrera (Arg)

2008 — Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind)

2009 — Ian Poulter (Eng)

2010 — Adam Scott (Aus)

2011 — Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Esp)

2012 — Matteo Manassero (Ita)