Johnnie Walker Classic
Tournament information
LocationPerth, Australia
Established1990
Course(s)The Vines
Par72
Length7,103 yards (6,495 m)
Tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia
Asian Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fund£1,250,000
Month playedFebruary
Final year2009
Tournament record score
Aggregate259 Ernie Els (2003)
To par−29 as above
Final champion
New Zealand Danny Lee
Location Map
The Vines is located in Australia
The Vines
The Vines
Location in Australia
The Vines is located in Western Australia
The Vines
The Vines
Location in Western Australia

The Johnnie Walker Classic was a European Tour golf tournament which was played in the Asia-Pacific region. Johnnie Walker is a brand name and the owners have a long history of tournament sponsorship. They also sponsored the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles which was a European Tour event played in Scotland.

The event was originally called the Johnnie Walker Asian Classic. There was a tournament already called the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia, but when that event ceased in 1992, the word Asian was dropped from the name.

History

In 1989 Johnnie Walker sponsored the Hong Kong Open, and it was decided to establish an additional tournament which it would sponsor on an ongoing basis. This tournament was called the Johnnie Walker Asian Classic, and was first staged in Hong Kong in 1990. It later evolved into a traveling event that was primarily utilized by its sponsor as a marketing strategy in the Asia Pacific region. In 1992 it became the first event to be sanctioned by the European Tour in East Asia (the Dubai Desert Classic was the first in Asia as a whole).

In 1993 the word Asian was dropped from the title. In 2005 the tournament was held in China for the first time, as part of the European Tour's push into China, which saw four events held in mainland China and one in Hong Kong in the 2005 season. The location of the tournament changes every year.

The tournament was co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia from 1996,[1] and by the Asian Tour from 1999.[2]

In 2005 the tri-sanctioned event had a field consisting of 60 European Tour players, 60 Asian Tour players, 28 PGA Tour of Australasia players, and 8 sponsors' invitees. The prize fund was £1,250,000. This amount is large by Asian and Australasian Tour standards, but not by European Tour or PGA Tour standards. However the tournament attracts a number of the World's leading players each year by paying them large appearance fees.

Nine of the first fourteen editions were won by players who have topped the Official World Golf Ranking at some point in their career (Faldo, Els and Woods twice each; Woosnam, Norman and Couples once each).

Winners

YearTour(s)[lower-alpha 1]WinnerScoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-upVenue
Johnnie Walker Classic
2009ANZ, ASA, EURNew Zealand Danny Lee (a)271−171 strokeChile Felipe Aguilar
Japan Hiroyuki Fujita
England Ross McGowan		The Vines, Australia
2008ANZ, ASA, EURNew Zealand Mark Brown270−183 strokesAustralia Greg Chalmers
Japan Taichiro Kiyota
Australia Scott Strange		DLF, India
2007ANZ, ASA, EURSouth Africa Anton Haig275−13PlayoffSouth Africa Richard Sterne
England Oliver Wilson		Blue Canyon, Thailand
2006ANZ, ASA, EURUnited States Kevin Stadler268−202 strokesAustralia Nick O'HernThe Vines, Australia
2005ANZ, ASA, EURAustralia Adam Scott270−183 strokesSouth Africa Retief GoosenPine Valley, China
2004ANZ, ASA, EURSpain Miguel Ángel Jiménez271−172 strokesDenmark Thomas Bjørn
India Jyoti Randhawa		Alpine Golf, Thailand
2003ANZ, ASA, EURSouth Africa Ernie Els (2)259−2910 strokesAustralia Stephen Leaney
Australia Andre Stolz		Lake Karrinyup, Australia
2002ANZ, ASA, EURSouth Africa Retief Goosen274−148 strokesSweden Pierre FulkeLake Karrinyup, Australia
2001: No tournament due to rescheduling from November to January
2000ANZ, ASA, EURUnited States Tiger Woods (2)263−253 strokesAustralia Geoff OgilvyAlpine Golf, Thailand
1999ANZ, ASA, EURNew Zealand Michael Campbell276−121 strokeAustralia Geoff OgilvyTashee, Taiwan
1998ANZ, EURUnited States Tiger Woods279−9PlayoffSouth Africa Ernie ElsBlue Canyon, Thailand
1997ANZ, EURSouth Africa Ernie Els278−101 strokeAustralia Peter Lonard
New Zealand Michael Long		Hope Island, Australia
1996ANZ, EURWales Ian Woosnam272−16PlayoffScotland Andrew ColtartTanah Merah, Singapore
1995EURUnited States Fred Couples277−112 strokesZimbabwe Nick PriceThe Orchard, Philippines
1994EURAustralia Greg Norman277−111 strokeUnited States Fred CouplesBlue Canyon, Thailand
1993EUREngland Nick Faldo269−111 strokeScotland Colin MontgomerieSingapore Island, Singapore
Johnnie Walker Asian Classic
1992EURSouth Africa Ian Palmer268−201 strokeGermany Bernhard Langer
Australia Brett Ogle
Northern Ireland Ronan Rafferty		Pinehurst, Thailand
1991: No tournament
1990England Nick Faldo270−144 strokesWales Ian WoosnamRoyal Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Notes

References

  1. ↑ Stone, Peter (10 May 1995). "Move to a global tour revealed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. p. 73 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ Happell, Charles (10 November 1999). "Australians get a chance to topple Tiger". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. p. 59 – via Newspapers.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.