Singh named honorary member of Asian Tour

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SENTOSA -- Fijian star Vijay Singh has accepted an invitation to become an Honorary Member of the Asian Tour.

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Vijay Singh has three major championships.

The world No. 11 expressed his delight with the recognition as he had cut his professional teeth in Asia during the 1980s before going on to become a global superstar by accumulating over 60 international victories, including three Majors.

Singh received his Asian Tour badge from the Tour's executive chairman Kyi Hla Han after the final round of the Johnnie Walker Classic in India last weekend.

"It's an honor to become an honorary member of the Asian Tour. The Tour has grown and it'll get stronger and stronger. Kyi Hla has done a great job for the Asian Tour and I'm happy to see him do a good job. I'll try to come back and play here more often and support the Asian Tour," said Singh.

Although the Fijian is now firmly established on the PGA TOUR, he has regularly competed across the region. Singh has won titles in Malaysia, Singapore, Korea and Chinese Taipei in the past and was pleased to see the rapid growth and expansion of the Asian Tour, which is poised to stage an unprecedented 30 events and offer over $40 million in prize money this season.

"The growth of golf in Asia is getting bigger and over the next few years, we will see many more strong players coming out from the Asian Tour. I'm happy to see this development and I believe it won't stop. We need more big tournaments to get the players going. The Asian players need to keep playing hard and not look back," said Singh.

Han was delighted that the Fijian has thrown his backing behind the Asian Tour.

"It is wonderful that Vijay has accepted our invitation to become an Honorary Member. He is an inspiration to a lot of Asian players. He started his career from out of Malaysia and played on the old Asian circuit before going on to Europe, the U.S. and number one in the world.

"To have him come back and support the Asian Tour is a tremendous honor for us," said Han.

The Asian Tour supremo added that Asian players can certainly take a leaf out of Singh's book if they harbour dreams of emulating his success.

"Our players can learn from Vijay. When we were playing together during his the early years as a professional, he worked so hard in his game that he would hit balls all day. He is a role model for all Asians. He has shown that you can achieve success from out of Asia.

"Vijay would wake up first thing in the morning to practice, play golf all day and practice again till dark. He would take a flash light to pick balls up at night so that he could start hitting balls at the break of dawn. That was how he got better and better. His dedication and desire to become a world-class player has led him to where he is now and this is something which Asian Tour players can emulate," said Han.