- SEOUL: South Korean golfers have called off their threatened boycott of OneAsia tournaments after being assured of more entries for events on the fledgling tour, the Korean Golf Association (KGA) said on Thursday.
The threat of a boycott was a huge embarrassment to the Tour - established last year by the Australian, Chinese and Korean golf bodies - ahead of the first event in South Korea this year, next week's Maekyung Open.
The players were unhappy that there would be fewer places for local golfers in the three former Korean Tour events that have been added to OneAsia's 11-tournament schedule, even though the prize money had been doubled to $1 million.
An assurance that a minimum of 60 South Korean golfers would play at the three events and that no more Korea Tour events would be added to the OneAsia Tour had ended the boycott threat on Thursday, the KGA told the Yonhap news agency.
"A total of 74 South Korean golfers including invited players will take part in the Maekyung Open," a KGA official said.
The news is a massive boost to OneAsia, who have faced fierce resistance from the previously established Asian Tour in their bid to establish an elite platform for Asia-Pacific golfers.
"The resolution of these misunderstandings in Korea have highlighted the need for us to keep the education process of our vision going, and this experience has simply helped strengthen our alliances," OneAsia chairman Sang Y Chun said in a release.

