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53-661: The Nordic Golf League is one of the third-tier men's professional golf tours , recognised by the European Tour , also known as the Satellite Tours. The top five players on the Order of Merit at the end of each season earn status to play on the second tier Challenge Tour for the following season. The tour is based in Scandinavia, and incorporates tournaments from the national tours of Denmark , Finland , and Sweden . In years past,

106-499: A Professional Golfers Association or an independent tour organisation which is responsible for arranging events, finding sponsors, and regulating the tour. Most of the major tours are player controlled organisations whose commercial objective is to maximise the income of their members by maximising prize money. The larger tours have a tournament almost every week through most of the year. Each tour has "members" who have earned their "tour cards", meaning they are entitled to play in most of

159-587: A circuit prize for the four players with the lowest aggregate scores. Thomson was declared the first circuit champion, with fellow Australians Kel Nagle and Frank Phillips in second and third place, and New Zealander Bob Charles in fourth. For the second season of the Far East Circuit, an additional tournament was scheduled in Osaka , Japan but it succumbed to adverse weather, with the course being covered in four inches of snow. In 1964 an additional tournament

212-456: A higher tour. Some of the players will also play on other tours when they are able to, and others will be club or teaching professionals who play tournament golf part-time. In Europe there is a well-defined third tier of tours which are independently operated but offer promotion to the Challenge Tour for the most successful players. The four third level tours, known as the Satellite Tours, are

265-461: A living from tournament golf can be difficult. Tournaments have entry fees and the associated costs of travel and lodging, plus the hire of a caddie . Moreover, most tournaments have a "cut" after the second of four rounds, meaning that only the top half or so continue play. Only those who make the cut receive any prize money, and only the top players take home significant winnings. The golf tour system evolved more by trial and error than by design. In

318-550: A one-off. In addition, on several occasions the circuit was effectively reduced to nine events as the Philippine Open was not counted for the Order of Merit in 1979, and removed from the circuit from 1984 through 1986. By the late 1980s, the Asia Golf Circuit had begun to feel the effects of the expanding PGA Tour of Australia , European Tour and PGA Tour , which had also introduced a development tour , schedules, as

371-476: A region each year, they were formalised into a "tour", which was supervised by a single organisation, although many tournaments continue to be run by separate bodies. The PGA Tour was the pioneer of the tour system, and its establishment date is not very clearly defined. The PGA of America was established in 1916. Lists of players with the most wins in each season are available from that year, and career win totals are based on results from 1916 onwards. However,

424-504: A tournament to the schedule were aborted. In 1982, South Korea withdrew their national open from the circuit due to a desire to reschedule it to later in the year when the weather would be more favourable, and the Maekyung Open was founded as a replacement. The Asia Golf Circuit did finally expand to eleven tournaments when Pakistan Open was added in 1989, with the intention for it to be held in alternate years, but it proved to be only

477-655: A year later. Although the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation added further tournaments to the schedule, such as the Southwoods Open and Manila Open , the circuit continued to lose ground to the Asian PGA. At the end of 1997, Official World Golf Ranking points were withdrawn from the Asia Golf Circuit, and the following year the Asian PGA Tour gained further recognition when it became an affiliate member of

530-570: Is also organized by independent regional tours. Leading female golfers make incomes well over US$ 1 million per year, more than most other women athletes other than top tennis players. There are currently seven first tier regional tours: The LPGA Tour is the dominant tour, and is the main playing base of almost all the world's leading players. It also has tournaments in Canada, Mexico, France, England, Australia, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and other Asian countries. The LPGA of Japan Tour

583-530: Is as follows : In the 1990s the Japan Golf Tour was the third richest tour, but in recent years its number of tournaments has been steadily contracting from a peak of 44 in 1990 to 24 in 2007, and tournament purses have risen only slowly. The (U.S.) LPGA saw a substantial decline in financial rewards in the late 2000s; when its commissioner Carolyn Bivens was forced to resign by a player revolt in 2009, it had only 14 events locked in for 2010. Its 2010 schedule

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636-638: Is not a well defined US-based third tier. The larger regional tours include the Swing Thought Tour , Gateway Tour , and the APT Tour there is a constantly changing roster of small "mini-tours". The term mini-tour is colloquial and not easy to define, with the larger regional tours carefully avoiding applying the term to themselves. Some of the smaller and lower cost tours prefer the term "developmental tour" asserting that real pro golf with large audiences and great financial opportunities for its players starts at

689-574: Is open to any registered professional who pays an entry fee. There are enormous differences in the financial rewards offered by the various golf tours, so players on all but the top few tours always aspire to move up if they can. For example, the PGA Tour , which is the first-tier tour in the United States, offers nearly a hundred times as much prize money each season as the third-tier NGA Pro Golf Tour . The hierarchy of tours in financial terms, as of 2024,

742-622: Is the second richest tour, and retains many of its leading players. The best players from the other tours usually move to the LPGA Tour at the earliest opportunity. The second tier women's professional tour in the United States is the Epson Tour (formerly the Futures and then the Symetra). Although there is little opportunity for women's developmental play on the professional level in the United States besides

795-629: The Canadian Tour became an associate member. The South and Central America based Tour de las Américas became the federation's second associate member in 2007. In 2009 the federation announced a major expansion, as the Tour de las Américas and the Canadian Tour became full members alongside nine new members. They were In 2011, the Tour de las Américas was effectively taken over by the PGA Tour, then, after

848-460: The Newsweek Asian Tour , but the agreement was terminated after just one year with much blame being placed on circuit promoters, Spectrum, and the confederation severed ties with them after just two years of a five-year deal. Further problems for the Asia Golf Circuit soon arose as its players, who were unhappy with a lack of playing opportunities due to the limited number of tournaments and

901-808: The OneAsia Tour , founded in 2009 as a joint venture between the PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association, the Japan Golf Tour, the Korean Golf Association and the Korean PGA, used to offer world ranking points. The richest tour not offering ranking points was until 2011 the Korean Tour . The official development tour in Japan is the Japan Challenge Tour . Other regional tours include

954-817: The PGA EuroPro Tour , the Alps Tour , the Pro Golf Tour and the Nordic Golf League . Starting July 2015, the four Europe-based third-tier tours was accepted into the OWGR rankings. Below this level there are various minor professional tournaments, some of which are organised into series by national golf associations. In 2016, the Dubai-based MENA Golf Tour announced an affiliation with the Sunshine Tour and

1007-537: The Professional Golf Tour of India , PGA Tour China and All Thailand Golf Tour . The United States and Europe have additional tours for players who haven't made it onto the Korn Ferry Tour or the Challenge Tour. At this level the prize money is partly funded by entrance fees and only the most successful players will win enough to do more than cover their expenses: the emphasis is very much on moving up to

1060-716: The Singapore Open in 1961, with the assistance of multiple Open Championship winner Peter Thomson , and a circuit was beginning to form. An organising committee was established in October 1961, with the first Far East Circuit being held in 1962, when the three opens were joined by the Malayan Open and the Yomiuri International in Japan. The tournaments were played over five weeks in February and March with Seagram sponsoring

1113-931: The Web.com Tour (1990; originally called the Ben Hogan Tour and later the Korn Ferry Tour) and senior tours such as PGA Tour Champions (1980; originally the Senior PGA Tour and later the Champions Tour) and the Legends Tour (1992; originally the European Senior Tour) have been established to give more golfers the opportunity to play on a tour, and to take advantage of the willingness of sponsors and broadcasters to fund an ever-increasing number of tournaments. There are more than twenty professional golf tours, each run by

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1166-473: The Asia Golf Circuit, this was rejected by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation. Later in the year, the Australasian Tour put forward a proposal to merge the two tours, however the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation eventually dismissed them as unfavourable and saw themselves as being in the stronger position. In 1994, the circuit had been sponsored for the first time by Newsweek International , and known as

1219-669: The Australian professionals who were travelling to play in the Philippine Open , the only major open golf tournament in Southeast Asia at the time, would consider also playing in a tournament in Hong Kong during their trip. The result was the first Hong Kong Open which was contested by 24 golfers and won by Lu Liang-Huan . The success of the Hong Kong tournament prompted the foundation of

1272-519: The Canada and Latin American tours. There have also been some well known sportsmen from other sports who, after retiring as wealthy men while still at an age when elite golfers are in their prime, have tried their luck as tournament golfers on the developmental tours, but none of them have made it into golf's elite so far. Examples include Ivan Lendl and Roy Wegerle . Two prominent professional athletes from other sports, however, have had modest success on

1325-699: The Epson Tour, women are welcome to compete against men on some mini-tours. At a lower level is the Cactus Tour , founded in 2005, which plays in the American Southwest . It expanded to hold 38 events in 2020, while the LPGA and Epson suspended play from April to August. Sweden , which is the European country where women's golf is most popular, had its own Swedish Golf Tour , established in 1986, since 2021 transformed to

1378-450: The Korn Ferry Tour level. Either way, below Korn Ferry Tour level there is little possibility of earning a living from the prize money alone and players compete to gain competitive experience. Some are employed as club or teaching professionals and play tournaments part-time, while some may have sponsors or family backing. After the new Korn Ferry Tour Finals was established in 2013, mini-tour purses have decreased and players have moved to

1431-460: The LPGA of Japan Tour enjoyed rapid growth in prize money in the early 2000s, and were less affected by the economic crisis than the U.S. LPGA. The International Federation of PGA Tours is an organization founded in 1996 to enable the world's leading tours to discuss common and global issues in professional golf. The founding members were In 1999 they were joined by the Asian Tour and a year later

1484-738: The Nordic Golf League incorporated tournaments from the now defunct Norwegian Golf Tour . Since July 2015, Nordic Golf League tournaments have carried Official World Golf Ranking points. Nordic Golf League competitors who went on to win on the European Tour include Lucas Bjerregaard , Alexander Björk , Kristoffer Broberg , Rikard Karlberg , Mikko Korhonen , Morten Ørum Madsen , Christian Nilsson , and Thorbjørn Olesen . Professional golf tours At least 95% of professional golfers make their primary income as club or teaching professionals rather than from competition. A small elite in

1537-642: The Nordic Golf Tour, operated in cooperation by the golf federations in Denmark and Norway and Sweden . The LET Access Series , launched in 2010, is the developmental tour of Ladies European Tour. The LPGA of Japan operates the Step Up Tour as a feeder for its main tour, and the LPGA of Korea operates two mini-tours (Dream Tour and Jump Tour) that effectively serve as feeders for its main tour. The Moonlightgolf.com Tour in central Florida since 1992, offers women

1590-453: The PGA Tour, mainly because most of its tournament sponsors were locked in through 2010; there was media speculation that the expiration of those sponsorship contracts in 2011 would see substantial changes in the landscape of that tour. However, this speculation proved misplaced or at least premature, as the 2011 season was announced with only one less official money event than in 2010 , with virtually identical prize money. The Asian Tour and

1643-593: The PGA of America. Similarly, the European Tour officially began in 1972, although it evolved from the British PGA circuit which merged with the Continental European circuit in 1977 before fully separating from the PGA in 1984. The dates of establishment of the other key tours include: LPGA Tour (1950); Sunshine Tour (1971), Japan Golf Tour (1973); PGA Tour of Australasia (1973), Asian Tour (1995). The Asian Tour

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1696-644: The Tour de las Américas held its 2012 season, it was folded into the new PGA Tour Latinoamérica . In October 2012, the Canadian Tour agreed to be taken over by the PGA Tour, with a name change to PGA Tour Canada taking effect that November. The International Federation of PGA Tours founded the World Golf Championships in 1999 and sanction the Official World Golf Ranking . World ranking points are also awarded for good placings in events on three developmental tours: In addition, until 2017

1749-618: The addition of the China Open in Taiwan in 1966. As the circuit continued to thrive, it was decided that a body was needed to oversee the running of the tour and introduce a single set of rules and conditions across all tournaments, and in 1967 a sub-committee was set up within the Asian Golf Confederation, which had been founded in 1963 and already taken on governance of the circuit. In 1968, India and South Korea were expected to join

1802-611: The confederation with the intention of adding their pre-existing national open championships to the circuit, and the tour became known as the Asian Golf Circuit. After a short delay, the Indian Open , which had been first held in 1964, and Korea Open , which was founded in 1958, were added to the circuit schedule for the first time in 1970. In 1972 the Yomiuri International was cancelled when sponsors decided to discontinue

1855-415: The early days of professional golf, in each region of the world each professional tournament was established by a separate golf club, golf organisation or commercial sponsor. As the number of tournaments increased, the most talented professional golfers concentrated mainly on playing in tournaments rather than on club professional and golf instruction work. Once a good number of tournaments were being played in

1908-650: The event for political reasons; it was swiftly replaced by the Sobu International Open . The Asia Golf Circuit reached ten tournaments in 1974, with the addition of the Indonesia Open . The circuit remained at an even ten for all but a few years of its life, despite attempts to expand further. In 1978, Papua New Guinea joined the confederation, prompting a rename of the organisation to the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation , but attempts to add

1961-439: The famous golfers who are eligible to compete in these events choose to do so, unless they are unable to for health reasons. A number of players win more than a million dollars in prize money each season, and once endorsements and other business activities are taken into account, a few of the "legends of golf" in this age group earn as much as any of the younger PGA Tour pros. The two main senior tours are: Women's professional golf

2014-462: The following year started their own Asian PGA Tour , with twice the number of tournaments as the existing tour. Over the next few years, the national opens steadily defected to the new tour and although some replacement tournaments were added, the Asia Golf Circuit declined until it eventually ceased operating some time after 1999. In 1959 Hong Kong Golf Club member Kim Hall wrote to Australian professional Eric Cremin to inquire as to whether some of

2067-475: The idea of a "tour" had not firmly crystallised at that time and several important developments came much later. Bob Harlow was named manager of the PGA Tournament Bureau in 1930, the first "playing pros" organisation was formed in 1932, and money lists are available from 1934. However the PGA Tour itself dates the formal establishment of the Tour to 1968, when the "Tournament Players Division" split from

2120-593: The number of big name players arriving for tournaments started to dwindle. Then in the early 1990s, the Australian Tour began to hold tournaments in Southeast Asia, with the Malaysian Masters , Perak Masters and Singapore PGA Championship being added to their Order of Merit schedule in 1991. In 1993, the Singapore Open joined the now renamed Australasian Tour and although organisers wished to also remain on

2173-502: The number of overseas players on the tour, and prompted by promoter Seamus O'Brien of World Sport Group , founded the Asian PGA in 1994 with the intention of creating their own tour. The Asian PGA Tour launched in 1995 with twice the number of tournaments as the existing circuit. The Asia Golf Circuit responded by adding tournaments, including the Bali Open and Rolex Masters in early 1995, with further tournaments planned for later in

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2226-454: The opportunity to develop through frequent low cost pro/scratch events. In 2001, the U.S.-based Women's Senior Golf Tour was founded, featuring golfers 45 and over. In 2006, it was rebranded as the Legends Tour and in 2021 The Legends of the LPGA. The LPGA of Korea now operates the Akia Tour, a four-event mini-tour for the same age group. Asia Golf Circuit The Asia Golf Circuit was

2279-568: The principal men's professional golf tour in Southeast Asia from the early 1960s through to the mid-late 1990s. The tour was founded in 1961 as the Far East Circuit . The first series of five tournaments was held in 1962 and consisted of the national open championships of the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, plus a final tournament held in Japan. The tour gradually grew over

2332-417: The profession who obtain income from prize money and endorsements are called "touring professionals", "tournament golfers", or "pro golfers". The best golfers can make up to 8-figure incomes in U.S. dollars from tournament play. Including endorsement income, pro golfer Tiger Woods was the highest earning sportsman for much of the first decade of the 21st century, according to Forbes magazine. But making

2385-504: The rankings were founded, and 1997. For much of its early history the Asia Golf Circuit was dominated by players from Taiwan, Japan and Australia. The circuit became popular with young American professionals during the 1970s through into the 1990s, with future major champions Payne Stewart and Todd Hamilton having considerable success. In 1994 Asian players formed the Asian Professional Golfers Association and

2438-552: The subsequent years, eventually becoming a regular ten tournament circuit in 1974. Leading players in the end of season standings were granted exemptions into major tournaments around the world, such as The Open Championship , the U.S. Open and the Memorial Tournament , and in later years were rewarded with playing status on the PGA of Japan Tour . Tournaments on the circuit also carried world ranking points between 1986, when

2491-480: The tour now known as PGA Tour Champions for golfers 50 and over. Former National Football League quarterback John Brodie won one tournament and had 12 top-10 finishes on that tour, and former Major League Baseball pitcher Rick Rhoden had three top-10 finishes. Upon reaching age 50, male golfers are eligible to compete in senior tournaments. Golf is unique among sports in having high profile and lucrative competitions for players of this age group. Nearly all of

2544-402: The tour's events. A golfer can become a member of a leading tour by succeeding in an entry tournament, usually called a Qualifying School ("Q-School"); or, by achieving a designated level of success in its tournaments when competing as an invited non-member; or, much rarer, by having enough notable achievements on other tours to make them a desirable member. Membership of some of the lesser tours

2597-445: The year along with the rescheduled Hong Kong Open, which was moved to November. Initially the two tours ran side by side, largely avoiding scheduling conflicts, but steadily the Asia Golf Circuit started losing tournaments to its neighbour. The Sabah Masters , which had only been on the circuit since 1994, joined the Asian PGA Tour in 1996; the Indonesian Open left in readiness for the 1997 season; Thailand, Korea and India followed suit

2650-403: Was included into the world ranking system. Starting in 2018, the Sunshine Tour-affiliated Big Easy Tour was added to the world rankings. Three lower-level tours offer world ranking points and direct promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour for a top five finish on their Orders of Merit, but they are based outside the United States: PGA Tour Canada , PGA Tour China , and PGA Tour Latinoamérica . There

2703-416: Was preceded by the Asia Golf Circuit , which operated from 1962 until 1999. The term "circuit" is often used to describe groups of professional golf tournaments, either organised tours, which may or may not include "unofficial" events, or simply to broadly categorize events in a local area or wider region. As professional golf has continued to expand developmental tours such as the Challenge Tour (1986) and

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2756-450: Was scheduled for the Philippines, however this time Japan were unable to host their tournament during the circuit schedule so the tour again remained at five tournaments. Expansion finally happened later in the year when Thailand joined the circuit, with the Thailand Open being added to the schedule for 1965 with prize money for all tournaments far in excess of even the flagship tournaments in Australia. The circuit continued to grow, with

2809-460: Was ultimately unveiled with 24 events, down from 34 as recently as 2008. The tour saw signs of recovery in 2012, with the addition of three new events, the sanctioning of a tournament in Australia , and the return of one tournament that had been off the schedule for a year. By 2014, the LPGA had largely recovered from its 2010 trough, with that year's schedule consisting of 33 events. The late-2000s economic crisis did not have an immediate impact on

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