Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner & CEO, Asian Tour, answers questions about the new partnership with the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR and explains why it is the correct path to take.

You recently announced a new partnership with the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR. What was the rationale behind this decision?

While we had not anticipated this earlier in the year, as a result of the uncertainty surrounding LIV Golf’s future, we had to promptly look at all options in the best interests of the Asian Tour and our members. We were alerted to this just prior to the Singapore Open and since then it has been a very busy period of discussions and meetings that required our full attention. We needed to work quickly to find a solution which protected the long-term wellbeing of the Asian Tour. After evaluating several options thoroughly, we are confident that the decision we made is in the best interests of our members, stakeholders and partners.  As we all know, sponsorship is the main factor which our Tour (and most other Tours) is built upon, and this is driven by market forces. We look back at the last five years as a very successful and important period of growth at the Asian Tour. The establishment of The International Series with LIV Golf has illustrated that Asian golf is vibrant and that there is a strong appetite for high level golf in the Asian region. The relationship provided our members with outstanding playing opportunities which is the foundation of the Tour and forms the basis of our renewed partnership with the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR.

Can you take us inside the last few weeks as you’ve explored opportunities for the Asian Tour’s future?

The PIF’s change in golf investment strategy caught everyone by surprise, and since the end of April we worked closely with LIV Golf CEO, Scott O’Neil, and his team to find potential solutions. We were actually in the process of renewing the partnership for another five years before the landscape shifted dramatically which necessitated exploring other avenues. Unfortunately, with half of the season having already been played, time was very much against us in preparing for the remainder of 2026 and planning for the 2027 season. There was an option of trying to operate the Tour independently but ultimately a partnership with the DP World Tour and the PGA TOUR made the most sense because of the commercial support, new events, pathways for our members and most importantly stability and longevity. The discussions culminated during the week of The Open. During a week when most of the viewing public are focused on the on-course action at the final men’s major championship of the year, behind the scenes it is a very important week for the global golf community. We were delighted to have secured our new partnership during that week.

What excites you about this new partnership? What are the benefits for players and fans of the Asian Tour?

We are looking forward to working collaboratively with the DP World Tour and the PGA TOUR again. It is clear that the landscape of professional golf is again changing and we have to adapt accordingly. Gaining some historically significant events in the region through co-sanctioning with the DP World Tour is very beneficial for us as well as collaborations on a media and commercial level.

This isn’t the first time the Asian Tour has aligned with the European Tour. Tell us about the heritage of this relationship and how this new partnership will be even better?

Historically we have always been close to the DP World Tour (European Tour). We began joint sanctioning events back in 1999, and this developed into a stronger Strategic Alliance from 2016 through 2019. This relationship was built on mutual benefits that allowed both Tours to prosper, strengthening events in the region as well as creating a healthy crossover of the two memberships.

Looking ahead, it will be exciting to work alongside them again and also seeing the players compete against one another again. I am confident that our members will be more competitive than ever having the experience of competing on The International Series over the last five seasons.

The PGA TOUR involvement now adds a new element that is extremely attractive, where we are looking to enhance commercial prospects which combine to make our Tour more attractive to our stakeholders and fans.

What playing opportunities do you foresee being made available with the PGA TOUR?

As I mentioned the landscape of men’s professional golf is changing and particularly for the PGA TOUR regarding their new event structure beginning 2028.  We are hoping to see some sort of pathway for our members alongside a road to the DP World Tour.

The Asian Tour continues to be an attractive property to connect with whether it be from other Tours or the commercial sector. Why do you think this is?

We are fortunate that men’s professional golf continues to be an extremely attractive sporting property. As the pan-regional golf Tour of Asia, we bring the best players in the region together as we stage events in many key Asian markets – whether new or established. We are diverse, inclusive, multi-cultural and known as the friendliest tour. We are delighted with the progress we have made over the past 20 years, but we are also aware of the untapped potential that remains. There is still a lot of work ahead of us to enhance the product that you see today but this new partnership is a step in the right direction.

The PIF and LIV Golf played an important role in the development of the Asian Tour in recent times. What are the biggest success stories of the last five years for you?

There is no doubt that the support could not have come at a better time for us. What we were able to achieve over the past five years has been nothing short of remarkable. Turning a seemingly vulnerable situation into a period of significant growth has been amazing and we are truly grateful for their investment in the Asian Tour. One of the major benefits to us was that it provided us with the ability to stage new events in places we had not visited before, like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, England, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and even the home of golf, Scotland. So many opportunities were made available to our members, who benefitted the most from elevated purses and the chance to play on the LIV Golf League, where they got to compete with some of the world’s greatest players for incredible prize funds. It was simply life changing for some of our members.

We still believe we will continue to have a strong presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The relationship between Golf Saudi and the Asian Tour remains very positive.  A number of Saudi professionals now play on the Asian Tour and Asian Development Tour. The PIF Saudi International is poised to remain the season ending event of our 2026 season and be a key tournament on the schedule into the future. We also continue to close out the Asian Development Tour season in Saudi Arabia. In future years we also hope to resume the Saudi Open which drew the curtain on the 2025 Asian Tour season. As the domestic golf market grows in Saudi Arabia, we hope to do even more business in The Kingdom.

There are still a lot of details to be finalised – what is the timeline for further announcements?

We are working through the finer details of the new partnership. The plan is to provide further updates in September when we kick off the second half of the Asian Tour 2026 season at the Yeangder TPC, which coincides nicely with the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour.

What is the future of The International Series this year and any relationship with LIV Golf?

Having successfully completed three International Series events this year in Japan, Singapore and Morocco, the three tournament winners naturally sit at the top of The International Series Rankings. However, moving forward, we are currently working with the respective promoters of the planned International Series events in the second half of the year to determine how we proceed. The Link Hong Kong Open, Bingo Plus Philippine Open and PIF Saudi International were originally planned as International Series events at the start of the season. As they are independently promoted, they will continue to be staged on the Asian Tour regardless. As for the planned International Series events in India and China which were set to be promoted by LIV Golf, we are trying to determine how we advance with these.

As I mentioned earlier, we are still closely following developments with LIV Golf as their season winds down in the USA. We hope to see some players from LIV Golf participate at our events to boost the depth of fields towards the backend of the year.