IF PEOPLE needed any more proof that golf was on the rise in the Far East, they need look no further than last week's Open at Hoylake for sure-fire evidence.
The peerless Tiger Woods will deservedly grab all the headlines after claiming his third Open title but there is a new menace waiting for its chance to halt his seemingly unbreakable hold on the game.
The Asian contingent at the Royal Liverpool did their continent proud over the past few days, on a course that could not have been more different to what they had become accustomed.
Hideto Tanihara, of Japan, finished tied for fifth with Sergio Garcia on 11 under par while South Korea's SK Ho was a danger on the leaderboard throughout, eventually ending the tournament on eight under.
Then there was Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant, who was tied for 31st place on three under par, while Japan's Keiichiro Fukabori's poor round of 79 on the final day saw him plummet from a superb position to 56th, with a score of one over.
There has never been an Asian winner of a major title, but the signs are that could be about to change.
"I think it could be close," Robert Turner, Tanihara's manager, said. "You don't just do it all of a sudden.
"It takes some steps, sometimes some baby steps that everyone will need to take before they can reach that level. But it's coming."
