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SINGAPORE. — America’s PGA Tour has pledged to stay in China for the long haul after taking the bold step of setting up a domestic circuit offering players a new route to golf’s top level, including the Olympic Games. In a move which could have a big impact on Chinese golf, and even the sport’s future, the newly established PGA Tour China will roll out 12 events this year with plans to steadily expand.

Professionals will be able to earn their way onto America’s Web.com Tour, the “gateway” to the world-leading PGA Tour, through their prize money, and pick up world ranking points which are needed to reach the Olympics.

The initiative could help China make good on its promise after already producing youngsters of the calibre of Guan Tianlang, who caused a sensation by making the cut at last year’s Masters aged just 14. As for the PGA, it gains a foothold in the world’s most populous nation, which with its vast potential market is considered a key strategic priority for many sports bodies.

PGA Tour vice-president Greg Gilligan, the body’s managing director for Greater China, said the tour had plans to expand to Hong Kong, Taipei and Macau, and perhaps even further afield in Asia if successful in China.

“We’re making a long-term commitment to this partnership and to the development of golf in China, broadly speaking,” he said by phone from Beijing. — AFP.