Field for 2010 Asian Amateur Championship announced

The Asian Amateur Championship, organised by the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, the Masters Tournament and The R&A, today released its 2010 championship field, which includes the top male amateur golfers from 27 APGC member nations and territories.

A 118-player field will compete in the 72-hole stroke play event from October 7-10 on the West Course at Kasumigaseki Country Club, located about one hour northwest of Tokyo near historic Kawagoe. An invitation to play in the 2011 Masters Tournament again awaits the winner, while both the winner and the runner(s)-up will earn a place in International Final Qualifying for The Open Championship next year.

Amongst the leading contenders for the championship are local hero Masamichi Ito, the 15-year-old who last week won the Faldo Series Europe Grand Final in Ireland, along with two players from the top 20 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) – India’s Rashid Khan (18th) and Benjamin Campbell of New Zealand (19th).

Other likely candidates for the second Asian Amateur Championship come from traditional regional golfing powers and include Korea’s Kim Sih-wan, the former US Junior champion, and Australian duo Kieran Pratt, semi-finalist at this year’s Western Amateur, and Matt Jager, current holder of both the Australian and New Zealand Amateur titles.

The 2009 runner-up Eric Chun, who took full advantage of his reward of a place in International Final Qualifying for the Open to earn a place at St Andrews in July, will return, although last year’s champion, fellow Korean Han Chang-won, is in the process of turning professional and will not play.

Said Kwangsoo Hur, President of the APGC: “The inaugural Asian Amateur Championship was a wonderful success and provided an outstanding showcase for the region’s best amateur golfers. The rewards provided through the support of Masters Tournament and The R&A will not only benefit our 2010 field, but will inspire the next generation to strive to reach this level.”

Tokyo Broadcasting System will produce the world feed that will be distributed in high-definition to more than 150 countries via ESPN STAR Sports (Asia), ONE HD (Australia), TSN (Canada), ESPN Latin America, Fox Sports (Middle East), Sky Sports (New Zealand) and ESPN2 (United States). Bill Macatee, who is part of the Masters Tournament commentary team, and former European Tour professional Jay Townsend will act as the English-speaking announcers.

Earlier in the year it was announced that Samsung and Japan Airlines would join the 2010 event as ‘Proud Partners’. The support of Samsung and JAL complements that of IBM, KFC, Rolex and Zurich, all of whom also backed the inaugural championship in 2009.

2010 Asian Amateur Championship Field Fast Facts

• The highest ranked players are Rashid Khan (18, India) and Benjamin Campbell (19, New Zealand)
• There are 52 players from last year in the field for 2010
• In 2009, 116 players from 30 members participated
• The members not participating in 2010 are Bahrain, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Macau, Myanmar, Qatar and UAE
• Papua New Guinea is participating for the first time
• Only 12 players in the field do not have a World Amateur Golf Ranking. In 2009 there were 22 players in the field without a World Amateur Ranking
• Father and son Taimur and Hamza Amin will both represent Pakistan in the 2010 field