The Johnnie Walker Super Tour was a golf tournament that was held in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

in 1996, 1997 and 1998, during the

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

off-season. It was an eight-man, six-day, four-round, 72-hole

stroke play Stroke play is a scoring system in the sport of golf. In the regular form of stroke play, also known as medal play, the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In a regular stroke play competition, the winner is the ...

event with each round being played in a different country. The field consisted of four of the world's leading golfers plus one player from each of the host countries. The tournament was sponsored by

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

and had a prize fund of $350,000 each year. The winners were four-time major champion

Ernie Els Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is nicknamed "the Big Easy" due to his physical stature along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victories are four major ...

Jesper Parnevik Jesper Bo Parnevik (; born 7 March 1965) is a Swedish professional golfer. He spent 38 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking in 2000 and 2001. Early years and amateur career Parnevik was born in Botkyrka, Stockholm County, a ...

and three-time major champion

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( ; born 22 February 1963) is a Fijians, Fijian professional golfer. In 1982, Singh turned professional and played on the local Asia Golf Circuit. However, his early career met with controversy, as he was accused of numerous rules ...

Event summaries

1996

The first tournament was played for a first prize of $100,000. The star players were

Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour PGA European Tour#Order of Merit winners, Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutive ones from 1993 to 1 ...

and

Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam (born 2 March 1958) is a Welsh professional golfer. Nicknamed "Woosie", Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe ...

, and they were joined by Lin Keng-chi,

Park Nam-sin A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

, Felix Casas and

Chawalit Plaphol Chawalit Plaphol (born 30 August 1974) is a Thai golfer. Early life and amateur career He took up golf at the age of twelve and won team and individual gold medals for Thailand at the 1995 South East Asian Games. Professional career In 1996 ...

from the host countries of Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand respectively. The tournament was played over six days, with one round at each of Ta Shee Golf and Country Club in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, Seoul Country Club in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, Orchard Golf and Country Club in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, and Thana City Golf and Country Club in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. Els held at least a share of the lead after each round, firstly alongside Lin and Park after Taipei, then with Woosnam after South Korea. After the Philippines he was in sole possession of the lead, but Woosnam came back in Bangkok to leave them tied after 72-holes. On the first hole of the sudden-death playoff, Els made a par to secure the victory.

1997

The second edition was contested by Els, Woosnam,

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...

, Maian Nasim,

Boonchu Ruangkit Boonchu Ruangkit (born 12 May 1956) is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the Champions Tour. Early life As a young man, Boonchu tried for a career in kick boxing, but he gave it up after being knocked out cold in his third bout. He made hi ...

, Casas and Hong Chia-yuh. Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Taiwan were the hosts. Faldo and Parnevik were tied for the lead after both the first and second rounds, before Parnevik pulled ahead in

Boracay Boracay (; sometimes shortened by non-natives as Bora) is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located off the northwest coast of Panay, Panay Island. It has a total land area of , under the jurisdiction of thre ...

and held on in Taiwan to finish four strokes clear of Faldo in second place.

1998

Nine golfers contested the third tournament, again with a $100,000 first prize, with Parnevik, Els, Singh,

Brian Watts Brian Peter Watts (born March 18, 1966) is an American professional golfer. Early life and amateur career Watts was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to European parents, but is now a U.S. citizen who lives in Texas. He played college golf at ...

, Marimuthu Ramayah,

Prayad Marksaeng Prayad Marksaeng (; born 30 January 1966) is a Thai professional golfer. Career Prayad was a member of Thailand's winning golf team at the 1987 South East Asian Games and turned professional in 1991. He has been a member of the Asian Tour since ...

, Chang Tse-peng and Casas being joined by star of the women's game

Laura Davies Dame Laura Jane Davies, (born 5 October 1963) is an English professional golfer. She has achieved the status of her nation's most accomplished female golfer of modern times, being the second non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA mone ...

; Filipino, Casas was invited as there was no representative from China. After the six day tour in Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and China, Singh emerged as the winner, two strokes ahead of Els with Davies finishing adrift in last place.

Winners

References

{{reflist Golf tournaments in China Golf tournaments in Indonesia Golf tournaments in Malaysia Golf tournaments in the Philippines Golf tournaments in South Korea Golf tournaments in Taiwan Golf tournaments in Thailand Recurring sporting events established in 1996 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1998 Diageo