Indonesian Masters Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Indonesian Masters to host Asian Tour International Series finale and have final say in who wins LIV Golf 2024 spot

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 16:15:54 +0000

Thailand’s Sarit Suwannarut triumphed at the Indonesian Masters last year. Asian Tour

The Indonesian Masters will be played from November 16-19, once again playing a major role in the end of season action on the Asian Tour.

The long-standing tournament, which will boast minimum prize money of $1.5 million, will be the final event of this year’s 10-event International Series and one of the closing events on the Asian Tour’s season.

Importantly, the competition will have the final say in who wins the International Series Order of Merit (OOM) and secures a lucrative passage to the 2024 LIV Golf League.

Chairman of the Asian Tour and Founder of the Indonesian Masters, Jimmy Masrin, said: “The Asian Tour and The International Series have enjoyed outstanding starts to 2023, and we are thrilled that the Indonesian Masters will once again help contribute to an exciting climax to the season. The two work hand-in-hand, with The International Series being the single most important development in the history of the Asian Tour.”

Thailand’s Sarit Suwannarut triumphed at the Indonesian Masters last year, during a memorable week when the tournament brought the curtain down on both the Asian Tour and International Series seasons. American Sihwan Kim claimed the Asian Tour OOM and Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent the International Series OOM — both players have been competing on the LIV Golf League this season.

Rahul Singh, Head of The International Series, said: “The Indonesian Masters has always been a fitting battle ground for global trophy hunters over the last 11 years, and as it was last year, it now has the added bonus of being the clincher for a lucrative ticket to one of the world’s most exciting franchises – the LIV Golf League.”

A prominent feature on the Asian Tour since its launch in 2011, the Indonesian Masters has always welcomed world-class fields and has a distinguished list of past champions including England’s Lee Westwood, a three-time champion and the winner of the inaugural edition, Justin Rose, Jazz Janewattananond and Anirban Lahiri.

News on the host venue and supporting sponsors will be announced in due course.

Last Sunday saw the fourth International Series event of the season completed, with Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent, young brother of Scott, claiming the International Series Vietnam after a nail-biting finish.

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Lee Westwood’s son to make pro debut at Indonesian Masters

Matt Smith — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 10:37:07 +0000

Lee and Samuel Westwood. Getty Images

By Matt Smith
When the Indonesian Masters gets going this week at Royale Jakarta Golf Club, fans would be forgiven for doing a double-take on seeing two Westwoods on the leaderboard.

One — Lee — is well known to all fans of the sport, with more than 40 pro titles to his names, going all the way back to 1996.

However, there is a new kid on the block — literally — as Lee’s son, Samuel, will be making his professional debut at the Asian Tour International Series event.

The 21-year-old has previously caddied for Lee and now will be in the same field as his dad for the first time, along with 142 other hopefuls going for the $1.5 million purse in the 2022 season-ending event from Thursday.

“He started playing the game very late,” Westwood told Golf Monthly. “He only took up the game seriously at age 16 and he is 21 now. I don’t really have any expectations for him this week. I just want him to enjoy himself.

“I expect him to be nervous and feel uncomfortable, but we all feel that way when you tee it up for the first time and once that has passed I expect him to start enjoying himself, start hitting some good shots and build on that. But I have no expectations as far as scores are concerned.”

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South African star Ernie Els hopes to roll back the years at BNI Indonesian Masters

Golf Digest Middle East — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 09:33:33 +0000

By GolfDigestME.com
A galaxy of stars are playing in this week’s BNI Indonesian Masters, three-time winner Lee Westwood, plus former champs Bernd Wiesberger, Anirban Lahiri, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, and Jazz Janewattananond.

But one star player stands out more than any other, and in more ways one, here at Royale Jakarta Golf Club, the ‘Big Easy’ Ernie Els.

Now 53 years old and a regular on the Champions Tour, he is making a popular return to the region, where he has enjoyed great success, winning three times on the Asian Tour.

“I just want to have a nice week, if things work out nicely then I will be very thrilled and if it doesn’t I just want to have a nice week and enjoy myself,” said the South African.

“I obviously want to try and play well, feel like I am swinging it good, it’s really coming out beautiful, there is a bit of doubt here and there. I am just getting my club back on plane, I was a little inside, a little deep. It feels good when I make good contact.”

He finished second here in 2013, when Wiesberger won, and despite not playing much recently he feels his game is in good shape.

“I have been playing really well, I played over on the Champions Tour, I had 13 top-10s out of 20-something events,” he added. “I ran close a couple of times, but I never got a win. I really am looking forward to next year, the competition is strong out there.

“I haven’t played in a month, I have just been playing a bit of social golf, in South Africa. I am trying to find something, but it’s okay, I am just enjoying myself out here, with my friend Nico [Van Rensburg] on the bag, he played in Asia for a long time.”

In Van Rensburg he could not have a better man to help guide him as he played regularly on the Asian Tour in the 1990s, winning three times, and thrilling galleries with his eye-catching big-hitting game.

“Nico is great, we have known each other since childhood, so it’s nice to have him on the bag. He’s loving it because he is seeing some of his old mates,” said Els.

Els’ last big win came at the 2013 BMW International Open in Europe, while his two wins on the Champions Tour came in 2020, but don’t be surprised if he adds some more silverware to his trophy cabinet this week, in what is the season-ending event on the Asian Tour and last of the year’s seven International Series contests.

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Close to quitting, Konig now has chance to reinvigorate career with dream Asian and European Tour starts

Kent Gray — Fri, 29 Nov 2019 00:01:18 +0000

By Kent Gray
Harry Konig was on the cusp of quitting the game after three fruitless and frustrating years trying to establish himself in the professional ranks. Now the Englishman is eyeing starts on the Asian Tour next month and will start 2020 at the oldest European Tour event outside continental Europe. Yes Sir, golf really is a funny old game.

Exactly three years to the day after turning professional, Konig came from nowhere to capture the MENA Tour by Arena’s season-ending Journey to Jordan Tour Championship on Thursday.

Konig had birdied five of the last six holes in a second-round 65 and very nearly repeated the dose in his closing 69, four birdies in his last five holes taking him from out of contention to -11, 205 and eventually sealing a one-shot victory over the English trio of Joshua Grenville-Wood, Todd Clements, Jamie Rutherford and 2017 Tour Championship winner Henric Sturehed (Sweden).

Konig’s first win as a professional has seen him earn a start at the $750,000 Indonesian Masters on the Asian Tour next month for winning the season decider. He also gets a spot in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic for finishing second in the ‘Final Five’ Order of Merit. Overall Journey to Jordan winner Keyser won the mini money list for the last five tournaments of the season but the overall season title had already landed him a Desert Classic start, meaning an unbelievable bonus on an unbelievable anniversary for Konig.

“It’s quite a coincidence that I played my first tournament as a professional on 28th November 2016, in Spain on the Gecko Tour,” Konig said.

“it’s been three very difficult years. Professional golf is hard. I had spoken to my parents and was planning to give up playing competitive golf next year. And then this happens. I think I will continue playing.”

After struggling in the pro ranks for three years, @HarryKonig1 was on the verge of giving up competition golf.

And then, he won the Journey To Jordan Tour Championship!!@arenagroup_plc @AylaOasis @TGP_Dubai pic.twitter.com/kUAVjPZ2ak

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) November 28, 2019

Thursday’s dramatic final round It was particularly galling for Grenville-Wood who looked all set to secure his first professional win as he reached the par-5 17th hole at 12-under only to finish bogey-bogey, including a missed par putt from less than three feet on the last to force a play-off.

Konig, meanwhile, saved the best of his storming finish to last, flushing a brilliant four-iron shot from 193 yards to less than a foot for the all-important birdie on the into the wind 18th.

Champion Harry Konig receives his trophy from Mr Sahl Dudin (left), Managing Director, Ayla Oasia and Chris White, General Manager, Ayla Oasis.

“I just can’t believe it. It’s an experience that I have never felt before, so I am lost for words. I was never in touch of winning and then I had that finish,” said Konig, who dedicated the win to his late friend Charlie Watson, who passed away two years ago.

“I was playing so bad. And like yesterday, I just told myself to start playing aggressive again and start going for the flags.”

On the day of his greatest triumph, @HarryKonig1 did not forget his best friend. The Devon golfer dedicated his Journey To Jordan Tour Championship win to Charlie Watson, who passed away two years ago.@arenagroup_plc @AylaOasis @TGP_Dubai pic.twitter.com/Xnu9LjtDHH

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) November 28, 2019

Cant believe it. Thanks for all the messages! Excited to tee it up in my first European Tour event in Dubai in January ? https://t.co/HIr0dDa2l7

— Harry Konig (@HarryKonig1) November 28, 2019

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Dubai Hills-Desert Classic prelude to new-look MENA Tour schedule; another European Tour opportunity for UAE PGA brethren

Kent Gray — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 13:02:11 +0000

By Kent Gray
The MENA Tour’s bid to become the “best little mini-tour in the world” is gathering momentum with invites to European and Asian Tour events confirmed along with an exciting prelude to the new-look spring schedule at the soon-to-be-opened Dubai Hills Golf Club.

After what will be a near 16-month hiatus, the remodelled 10-tournament regional development circuit will be re-launched at Ayla Golf Club in Jordan from February 9-11.

But there are three key dates before the US$100,000 season opener which fronts a five-tournament spring swing in Jordan, Kuwait and Dubai (the five remaining events in an Oct.-Nov. autumn window will be announced along with the tour’s first naming rights sponsor and a major co-sanctioning agreement soon).

Key among the three pre-season events is a 36-hole qualifier in January from which the top three players will go on to contest the 30th Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club from Jan. 24-27.

The ‘2019 Omega Dubai Desert Classic Shootout’, to be held at Dubai Hills on Jan. 20-21, is a coup in that will not only assist in rekindling stalled public interest in the MENA Tour but ensures the tour’s membership more than the clichéd “stairway to stardom” peddled in the new season PR. In another nod to regional development, the top-10 players on the second tier UAE PGA Tour will be invited to play the shootout alongside the top-60 players exempted from the 2017 MENA Tour order of merit (OOM) and the first 50 players who signed up for January’s Q-School.

There will also be an invite to the European Tour’s Maybank Championship at Saujana Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur from March 21-24 for the OOM leader after the five spring events. Indeed, the top five players on the money list at the halfway stage of the 2019 MENA Tour season will be rewarded; the second placed player will tee it up in the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco from April 25-29, the third-placed player earns automatic entry into the new Jordan Mixed Open at Ayla G.C. from April 4-6 while the fourth and fifth players will be headed to the Asian Tour’s Indonesian Masters from July 4-7.

Increased prize funds for every event, on-going Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) status, perfect weather and the prime conditioning of courses on the schedule has ensured there has been no drop-off in interest from budding touring pros despite the season-long hiatus.

So much so, an oversubscribed entry list for Q-School has prompted organisers to arrange two separate qualifiers at Ayla immediately proceeding the 2019 season bow at the same club – from Jan. 29-Feb. 1 (category A) and Feb. 2-5 (category B) – to accommodate the overflowing, global entry list.

After Q-School, the tour will bounce around the region for five events in a month – at Ayla G.C. (Feb. 9-11), Al Zorah G.C. in Ajman (Feb. 19-21), Dubai (course TBC; Feb. 26-28), Sahara Kuwait Resort (March 3-7) and Dubai (course TBC; March 12-14).

Getty Images
Henric Sturehed won the last MENA Tour event, the tour championship at Al Zorah, in October 2017. The Swede and since gone on to contend on the European Tour.

The minimum prize fund on offer each week will be $75,000, an increase of 50 per cent from previous $50,000, with at least three tournaments to boast $100,000 purses.

“We have listened to our members on various issues and used this hiatus of one year to ensure that we not only have a strong, financially viable Tour with streamlined operation and logistics, but also one that makes it easier for our members to participate and excel,” said new MENA Tour general manager Robbie Williams.

“The Qualifying School at Ayla Golf Club is our first step in a new journey, one which is going to be very exciting for the players and the industry in the region. The response so far has been fantastic. Even before we announced any dates, we have had over 600 registered interests by golfers from across the globe about our plans for 2019 and beyond.”

The MENA Tour’s new 2019 logo.

Established in 2011 by the Sheikh Maktoum Golf Foundation, the MENA Tour is one of 20 global Tours recognised by the OWGR. It global recognition makes it a genuine pathway for players in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond to events like the Olympic Games and other major championships.

Rayhan Thomas, who became a poster-boy for the MENA Tour when he won the 2017 Dubai Creek Open and last weekend secured his second professional title as an amateur, has committed to playing much of the spring schedule before taking up a scholarship at Rickie Fowler’s alma mater, Oklahoma State University.

For more information on Q-School, the ‘2019 Omega Dubai Desert Classic Shootout’ and new-look spring schedule, visit menatour.golf

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