SINGAPORE, Sept 25 - Singapore will step in to stage a new $750,000 World Classic Championship on the Asian Tour in November after organizers of the Indonesia Open asked for their event to be postponed.
The new 144-man tournament will be played at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club from Nov. 12-15, the Asian Tour said on Friday.
The $750,000 Indonesia Open, won last year by triple major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland, was scheduled for the same dates but will now be played sometime in 2016.
"The organisers of the Indonesia Open remain committed to hosting the event on the Asian Tour in the near future and we look forward to working with them for the betterment of the game in Indonesia and around Asia," tournament organisers said in a statement on Friday.
The Indonesia Open, the country's oldest professional golf tournament, was due to celebrate its 35th anniversary this year after returning to the Asian Tour in 2013 following three years on the rival OneAsia circuit.
It joins the Dubai Open, Solaire Open, Philippine Open, King's Cup, Vascory Classic, Chiang Mai Classic and Selangor Masters in falling off the Asian Tour calendar this year.
The circuit, though, has added new events in Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam.
It marks the second time in two years the Laguna Club have stepped into stage an Asian Tour event.
Last year they came in at short notice to host The Championship for the circuit following 'staging issues' in its original South Korea location.
Asian Tour CEO Mike Kerr was appreciative of the support of Laguna, owned by Indonesian-born motoring and property entrepreneur Peter Kwee.
"It's fantastic that our players will have another opportunity to return to Singapore to compete at the World Classic Championship at Laguna National," he said in a statement on Friday.
"We are grateful to our partners IMG and the management at Laguna National Golf and Country Club for their commitment and support towards this event."
Last month, the Singapore-based Asian Tour announced they had entered into "an innovative joint vision for the future of professional golf" with the European Tour, thought to be a merger.
Source: REUTERS, by Patrick Johnston. Editing by Sudipto Ganguly
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