72 | FORBES ASIA OCTOBER 2017
stopped at this state-of-the-art exercise area and the head of the
CGA [China Golf Association] told us that on October 8 , no Chi-
nese golfer could work out in that room, but that after October 9,
they could,” says Votaw. While no golf-specific figures are available,
it is estimated that the Chinese government spent more than $ 1
billion on Olympic training infrastructure in 2013 alone. (The next
Summer Games will take place in Japan in 202 0.)
Looking east makes good business sense for both the PGA and
European tours. Growth in the game is stagnant in Europe, and the
European Tour annually loses money, save for years in which the
Ryder Cup is played (and TV ratings spike). Golf in the U.S. has
been plagued by bad headlines: Nike recently shut down its golf
division, Adidas is in the process of shedding its golf unit (Taylor-
Made) and retailer Golfsmith went bankrupt. Golf rounds in the
U.S. are down 11% since 2 000. According to research company Pel-
lucid, 22 new courses in the U.S. opened in 2016 but 17 6 closed, the
eleventh straight year that more courses closed than opened.
And though the PGA Tour’s revenues continue to climb at a
steady, if not spectacular rate (in the most recent available reports,
the nonprofit Tour’s numbers are up from $1.1 billion in 2014 to
$1. 2 billion in 2015 ), and its stars, like Spieth, Matsuyama, Dustin
Johnson and Justin Thomas, are good and very young, its TV rat-
ings have continued to slide since a high in 2008 (not coincidentally
during the era of Tiger Woods’ dominance).
Asia, on the other hand, is experiencing a growth spurt. Japan
and South Korea are Nos. 2 and 3 in top world golf retail markets,
according to research group Golf Datatech (the U.S. remains No. 1).
South Korea is No. 1 in per capita spending in the $ 12. 6 billion golf
equipment and apparel market. And Asia has 109 planned courses
and 6 7 under construction. By comparison, North America has 99
courses planned and 5 7 under construction.
When it comes to capitalizing on Asia, Votaw may be the PGA
Tour’s biggest asset. From 1999 until 2005 he was the head of the
LPGA. Those happen to be the years when that tour experienced
an explosion of Asian talent, which started in earnest with Korean
Se-Ri Pak winning the U.S. Women’s Open and the Women’s PGA
Championship in 199 8. That year, Pak was one of three Koreans on
the LPGA Tour. A decade later, there were 45 , and they are now the
dominant country in women’s golf (see box, opposite).
The biggest lesson Votaw learned from his tenure at the LPGA?
“The development of heroes from a particular country,” he says. “We
saw how women’s golf grew in Korea. That’s instructive for us on the
PGA Tour side. I don’t necessarily think we’ll have 5 0 players from
Asia on our tour anytime soon, but I do think we are developing
heroes from that part of the world.”
That hero creation started in earnest in 2013 , when the HSBC
Champions tournament in Shanghai became, all at once, a World
Golf Championship event and the first significant PGA Tour tour-
nament in Asia. (Matsuyama won it last season.) “When we started
the HSBC tournament and junior program, I said that it would be
our wish in 2 0 years’ time to present the HSBC WGC trophy to a
Chinese golfer,” says HSBC’s Morgan. “At the time, it sounded like
sponsor p.r. But I don’t think anyone would bet against it now.”
The next year, the PGA Tour, in conjunction with the CGA and
the China Olympic Sports Industry, created the PGA Tour China
Series, designed to be a pipeline to the American Tour. Xinjun
Zhang and Zecheng Dou, the first Chinese players to ever earn PGA
Tour playing cards, are graduates of that system.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, though,
at least from a public relations standpoint.
In 2004 , when China had a reported 200
courses, the Chinese government banned
the building of new courses for what it
claimed to be environmental reasons. And
then in 2015 , President Xi Jinping issued a
ban on the game—which is viewed as capi-
talist and elite—this time to combat graft.
But the crackdowns haven’t had much of
an effect in China. Construction continued
despite the ban, with the number of new
courses reportedly tripling since 2004. And
through broadcast partnerships with the
PGA Tour, all tournaments are shown live
on TV (as they are in South Korea, Japan,
Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Tai-
wan, Vietnam and a handful of other Asian countries). The PGA
Tour opened an office in Beijing in 2013 and recently signed a deal
with the Chinese digital giant iQIYI to live-stream all of its tourna-
ments. “The crackdown is more of a media-driven negative than a
negative in reality,” says Votaw, who notes that the Chinese national
team practiced at the PGA Tour headquarters this past spring.
Not all is well with the PGA Tour China Series, however, which
has suspended operations for a year because of a dispute with its
promotional partner. “We’re continuing conversations and hope to
announce something about 2018 soon,” says Votaw.
The Tour has placed an emphasis on South Korea, too. In 2015 ,
the Presidents Cup, an event created by the PGA Tour that pits the
best male players in the U.S. against the best international players out-
side of Europe, was held in Incheon. (Earlier this month in Jersey City,
New Jersey, the U.S. team won the Cup, trouncing the International
team, although Kim held his own.) “We wouldn’t have staged the
event in Korea if the game hadn’t become a cultural imperative there,”
says Votaw. (Korean Sangmoon Bae was one of the stars for the in-FORBES ASIA
ASIAN INVASION
“THE INDUSTRY OF GOLF HAS ALWAYS
FOLLOWED THE GROWTH OF THE
MIDDLE CLASS AND MIDDLE-CLASS
CONSUMERISM. IN THE 19TH CENTURY,
IT WAS GREAT BRITAIN. IN THE 20TH
CENTURY, IT WAS THE U.S. THIS CENTURY
WILL BE ABOUT CHINA AND INDIA AND
OTHER PARTS OF ASIA.”