1996 Asian PGA Tour

1996 Asian PGA Tour season
Duration14 March 1996 (1996-03-14) – 22 December 1996 (1996-12-22)
Number of official events22
Most winsSouth Korea Kang Wook-soon (2)
Thailand Thammanoon Sriroj (2)
Order of MeritSouth Korea Kang Wook-soon
Players' Player of the YearThailand Boonchu Ruangkit
Rookie of the YearAustralia Jeff Wagner
1995
1997

The 1996 Asian PGA Tour, titled as the 1996 Omega Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the second season of the Asian PGA Tour, one of the main professional golf tours in Asia (outside of Japan) alongside the long established Asia Golf Circuit.

It was the second season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Omega SA, that was announced in September 1995.[1]

Schedule

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The following table lists official events during the 1996 season.[2][3]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(US$)
Winner[a] OWGR
points
Other
tours[b]
Notes
17 Mar Sabah Masters Malaysia 200,000 Thailand Thaworn Wiratchant (1) n/a New to Asian PGA Tour
1 Apr Singha Thai Prasit Bangkok Open Thailand 175,000 Thailand Thammanoon Sriroj (1) n/a New tournament
21 Apr Canlubang Classic Philippines 175,000 South Africa Craig Kamps (1) n/a
28 Apr Tournament Players Championship Malaysia 175,000 South Korea Kang Wook-soon (1) n/a
5 May Honda Invitational Thailand 300,000 Australia Steve Elkington (n/a) n/a New tournament
12 May Guam Open Guam 175,000 South Korea Mo Joong-kyung (1) n/a New tournament
2 Jun Volvo China Open China 400,000 Thailand Prayad Marksaeng (1) n/a New to Asian PGA Tour
11 Aug Canon Singapore Open Singapore 500,000 United States John Kernohan (1) n/a New to Asian PGA Tour
18 Aug Kuala Lumpur Open Malaysia 200,000 South Korea Kang Wook-soon (2) n/a New tournament
25 Aug Fila Open South Korea 300,000 South Korea Kwon Oh-chul (1) n/a KOR New tournament
1 Sep Philip Morris Asian Cup South Korea 300,000 India Jeev Milkha Singh (3) n/a New tournament
29 Sep Lexus International Thailand 200,000 Thailand Boonchu Ruangkit (3) n/a New tournament
6 Oct Yokohama Singapore PGA Championship Singapore 200,000 Taiwan Yeh Chang-ting (2) n/a
18 Oct Dubai Creek Open UAE 350,000 Eswatini Paul Friedlander (1) n/a
27 Oct Australian Players Championship Australia A$500,000 Australia Bradley Hughes (n/a) 16 ANZ New to Asian PGA Tour
3 Nov Alfred Dunhill Masters Hong Kong 500,000 Germany Bernhard Langer (n/a) 26 ANZ New to Asian PGA Tour
10 Nov Merlion Masters Singapore 175,000 United States Peter Teravainen (1) n/a
17 Nov Pakistan Steel Masters Pakistan 225,000 United States Eric Rustand (1) n/a
1 Dec Tugu Pratama Indonesian PGA Championship Indonesia 250,000 Thailand Thammanoon Sriroj (2) n/a New to Asian PGA Tour
8 Dec Royal Thai Classic Thailand 325,000 South Africa Richard Kaplan (1) n/a New tournament
15 Dec Omega PGA Championship Hong Kong 500,000 United States Gerry Norquist (2) n/a
22 Dec Asian Matchplay Championship Indonesia 150,000 China Zhang Lianwei (2) n/a Limited-field event

Order of Merit

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The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[2]

Position Player Prize money ($)
1 South Korea Kang Wook-soon 183,787
2 United States Gerry Norquist 129,404
3 Thailand Thammanoon Sriroj 127,422
4 South Africa Craig Kamps 119,512
5 Australia Jeff Wagner 109,570

Awards

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Award Winner Ref.
Players' Player of the Year South Korea Kang Wook-soon [2]
Rookie of the Year Australia Jeff Wagner [2]

Notes

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  1. ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Asian PGA Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Asian PGA Tour members.
  2. ^ ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; KOR − Korean Tour.

References

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  1. ^ Robinson, Spencer (15 January 1996). "Asian PGA looks back on a year of achievements". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 November 2023. In September, though, Swiss watchmakers Omega came on board, signing a deal, reputed to be worth more than US$6 million, which ties them to the circuit for an initial three-year period.
  2. ^ a b c d Robinson, Spencer (1997). The Official 1997 Asian PGA Yearbook – The Omega Tour. Edinburgh Financial Publishing. pp. 26–143, 152–153, 158–159. ISBN 9627982210.
  3. ^ McCormack, Mark H. (1997). The World of Professional Golf 1997. IMG Publishing. pp. 177–187, 553–566. ISBN 1878843176.
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