ASIAGOLF’S NEW SUPERPOWER By Doron Levin

Sang Yul Chun’s career as a television executive spans nearly 25 Sang Yul years, a period during which in Asia has been transformed from Chun of an expensive hobby for business executives and a very few wealthy SBS into a televised sport for the masses. This popularity is inspiring a wave of course construction, tourism and newcomers to the game.

In April 2010, Chun’s portfolio ever since the company’s found- and control the development of expanded when the newly orga- ing in 1991. The first step in the Asian golf is fierce. A rival sanc- nized OneAsia Tour appointed strategy was purchasing Asian tioning body, the , him chairman. Under his guid- broadcast rights for elite tourna- began operating in 2004, with ance, OneAsia now is contending ments in the United States and the same basic goal as OneAsia: to be the most important sanc- Europe, like the Masters and the to sanction golf tournaments tioning organization for golf tour- British Open. Lately, local interest and oversee highly lucrative naments in the region, in part is no longer limited to elite golf in broadcasting and sponsorship because of its ability to broadcast the West but has been extended deals. The Asian Tour lists the events to 400 million homes. to homegrown players and tour- Rolex watches and BlackBerry With dozens of tournaments al- naments like the $1 million Nan- among its partners. ready scattered across the conti- shan Masters, to be held at Chun asserts that OneAsia nent to attract present and future the Nanshan International Golf has gained the upper hand over stars, his group will guarantee a Club in China on Oct. 11. the Asian Tour, citing the num- prize purse of at least $1 million “My job has been all about fig- ber of homes it reaches with for each of the 15 events it will uring out how to create content broadcast tournaments, as well stage in 2012. for SBS,” Chun said. “We now have as the size of the purses offered The rise of golf in Asia repre- a platform for that content. Tele- in tournaments. “Yes, we are the sents opportunity as well as vin- vision drives enthusiasm for golf. top tour,” he said. “And, yes, oth- dication for Chun and his em- In our part of the world, we don’t ers might dispute that. But our ployer, SBS, the former Seoul have the same craziness for soc- numbers prove we are right.” Broadcasting System. With Chun, cer, as in Europe, or for basketball, Rivalry between sanctioning who is vice chairman, guiding as in the U.S.” bodies is a familiar narrative in strategy and bidding against rival Because of golf’s appeal among modern sports. It is exemplified TV networks, SBS has been look- big sponsors and its high financial by the National Football League’s ing for ways to popularize golf stakes, the struggle to manage absorption of the American Foot-

78 Q4.2012 The Korn/Ferry Institute Briefings onTalen t &Leadership Gary Moss bring great golfcoverage to Asia. Sang Yul Chun’s missionisto Auto RacingTeams circuit in2003. rival leaguesintheUnitedStates, ball Leaguein1970, orbythe leading totheChampionship car racingteams, whichcreated squabbling amongopen-wheel open acrimony. To strengthenits Golf inAsiasofarhasavoided Golf

year recruitedTennielChu,whose ment, have allied themselves with ment, havealliedthemselveswith family operatestwoenormous Chu “oneofthemostimportant names ingolf.ChuncallsTenniel Jack Nicklausandothereminent prominent inrealestatedevelop- position, OneAsiaearlierthis the MissionHillsbrand.Since golf resortsinChina,bothunder early 1990s,theChus,whoare United Statestostudybusiness, ington Universityin1964.He working firstforwhatwasthe and respectedpeopleinthesport,” banker, Chunwassenttothe doubt lendweighttoChun’slead- graduating fromGeorgeWash- chose advertisingashisspecialty, ership ofthesanctioningbody. someone whoseinfluencewillno The sonofaprominentKorean Q4.2012 79 Ted Bates agency and then with and her name was Se Ri Pak. The sit atop the standings, viewership Dentsu Young & Rubicam in New previously obscure young Korean suffers. Korea has contributed a York. professional was about to win the handful of male stars to the atten- Today, from SBS’s Los Angeles women’s U.S. Open. tion of American golf fans, among office, Chun manages a vast Rolo- After rolling up her slacks, re- them K.J. Choi, Anthony Kim and dex of contacts at the P.G.A. Tour, moving her shoes and hitting a Y.E. Yang, who upset Woods to win the premier men’s golf sanction- miraculous shot out of the water at the 2009 P.G.A. Championship. On ing body in the United States; the Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis., on the distaff side, beyond Se Ri Pak, L.P.G.A. for women’s golf; the U.S. the final day of the 1998 tourna- ’s Yani Tseng is regarded by Golf Association; IMG Worldwide, ment, the 20-year-old Pak qualified some as the most formidable tal- the agency that represents many for a two-woman playoff and the ent in the game. athletes and sponsors; and the next day prevailed in a contest that “I don’t think televised golf in European Tour. His current role lasted 20 holes. She became the Asia will prove as dependent on a — promote and develop golf for youngest player and the first Asian few big-name stars as in the West,” television audiences, while pursu- to win the U.S. Open, arguably the Chun said. “We will be more inter- ing sponsors for events and for world’s most important women’s ested in showing how broad the commercial time on SBS — is a event. talent is, highlighting the number natural extension of an earlier “Korea had been suffering in of young players who are hoping to career on Madison Avenue. the Asian financial crisis” that was make their living playing as profes- “His worldwide perspective devastating markets in the region sionals. In America everything is makes Sang unique,” said Ty Vo- since the year before, Chun said. about who’s winning. In Asia peo- ple care about who’s playing.” Korea has contributed a handful of male stars to the According to Votaw, the main challenge now facing Chun is to attention of American golf fans, among them Y.E. Yang, find companies willing to spend the millions it takes to sponsor who upset Woods to win the 2009 P.G.A. Championship. championships. In the meantime, Asian nations taw, executive vice president of “When she won, it was like a sign are looking toward 2016, when golf the P.G.A. Tour. “He’s a diplomat. for everyone that you never give will make its debut as a full-fledged He knows and can speak to every up, that you can come back from Olympic sport in Rio de Janeiro, executive in the sport. He and his anything if you try.” An overnight Brazil. The rules for Olympic golf boss, Chairman Se-young Yoon, media sensation across Asia, Pak aren’t final, though to qualify a very early on saw that golf would had been the only Korean player golfer will have to achieve a high be good for Korea, for Seoul Broad- competing in the L.P.G.A. Her ranking in global competition, not casting and for Asia, so they tied victory unleashed a torrent of in- just in his or her home country. up the television rights. They have terest, especially among young Some Asian nations could be cut been visionaries.” women; a decade later, she was out of competition if none of their In 1995, SBS had been in busi- one of 45 Korean women who players are ranked highly enough. ness for only four years when had qualified for the L.P.G.A. The only way to develop highly Chun grabbed the Asian TV rights Since the arrival of Arnold ranked players will be to anneal to L.P.G.A. tournaments for a mere Palmer in the 1960s and through them in competition, which $3,000, a price that reflected mi- the current era of an on-again means the cost of televising golf nuscule interest among Korean off-again Tiger Woods, crowd- tournaments should keep rising. viewers for women’s competitive pleasing stars have always been In the post-Pak world, the price for golf in the United States. By 1997, critical to the sport’s vitality. the L.P.G.A. rights in Asia eventu- the annual rights fee had risen to When Tiger is winning on Sunday, ally reached $10 million annually. $50,000, still a relative bargain. But United States television ratings “The price of broadcast rights a bombshell was about to explode, spike. When less familiar names got so much higher, SBS decided

80 Q4.2012 The Korn/Ferry Institute Briefings onTalen t &Leadership ©Jerome Davis/Icon SMI/Corbis China’s Stars Golf

L.P.G.A. ChampionshipinJune, L.P.G.A. I wouldbefired.TheL.P.G.A.tour referring to Se-young Yoon. referring to He and investors created the resort, He andinvestorscreatedtheresort, thelargestin resort, Hills golf rean networkmadethewinning making her the first golfer of ei- making herthefirstgolferof improves, moreChinesewilltake in 1992,whenonlyabout100,000 was thechairman’sbaby,”hesaid, Chun, explainingthatarivalKo- ward andthestandardofliving Chinese wereplayingthesport, which has12coursesand216holes, world. Atycoonwhomadehisfor- Chu, whoopenedChina’s Mission need aplaceforrecreation. awakening” occurred,hesaid,be- bid. “Icouldn’tsleepandwassure plifies the vision of thelateDavid plifies thevisionof paper, Chubecameagolfingen- because of weakeconomies,because of Asia business executiveswouldoneday the men’sandwomen’stour,”said that wecouldn’taffordtotelevise ther sexfromChinatowinprofes- thusiast whileresidinginToronto. tune manufacturingcorrugated has grabbedcenterstage.Shan- up golf,”saidTennielChu,David’s golf todayintheUnitedStates.golf 10,gan playingattheageof exem- compared with26millionplaying cause ofhislatefather’svisionthat e-mail messages.“TheChinesegolf sionally intheUnitedStates. shan Feng, 22, won the Wegmans shan Feng,22, wonthe son, whoansweredquestionsvia “As theeconomymovesfor- A femaleChinesestaralready With golf stagnant in the West stagnantinthe With golf Feng, aBeijingnativewhobe- partly of Thai andChineseancestry. Thai partly of If tens of millions of Chinese eventually take up golf Chineseeventuallytakeupgolf millionsof tensof If there is eventually bound to be a fully Asian version of Tiger Woods, Tigerwhoisonly there iseventuallyboundtobeafullyAsianversionof — War II,thesportwasvirtuallyun- In contrast to Japan, where golf has wheregolf In contrasttoJapan, (One Chinese historiantheorizes years agoandexportedtoEurope ruling CommunistPartyhasbeen more themerrier,” Chunsaid.“My mark bybroadcastinggolf,“the much happensthatthecentral much arablelandandwaterina food foritsinhabitants. ButChi- Chairman DengXiaoping,the works tryingtomaketheirown athletic prestige. and realestatevalues, aswell na’s can rulersalsorealizethatgolf banned the construction of new banned theconstructionof providing aboosttoChina’s global by Mongoliantravelersandeven- been popularsincebeforeWorld that couldbeconstruedaselitist tually toScotland.) that thesportactuallywasinvented the firstcourse,anArnoldPalmer the sport’s bestchance for growth. known inmodernChinabefore liberalization thatbeganunder during theSongDynasty1,000 design, wasconstructedin1984. get itallforSBS.” goal istomakethepiebigger, not gave him.AsforrivalAsiannet- government unofficiallytolerates courses. Butinacountry where country thatcan’t growenough cautious aboutallowingactivities spur tourism,currencyinflows or decadent. Golf coursesconsume Golf or decadent. especiallyChina There is a custom in Asia of isacustomin Asiaof There Fortunately,Yoon for- hesaid, In 2004, Chinaofficially Notwithstanding economic — represents

Bae, whogolfsinAsiaandonthe footsteps, andthatishappening P.G.A. Tour. P.G.A. in Chun’s family. HissonDavid works for Singapore-based World works forSingapore-based tour in2012. championship ontheU.S.LPGA China’s won the Sports Group, whoseclientsin- clude the26-year-oldSang-Moon children followinginthefather’s — asnowseemslikely — Q4.2012

81 or can’t control, many were built Asia, perhaps better than in the would spur growth of the sport in anyway. In 2009, the government’s West. “It’s not about the game as China. It has been a reason for in- own tourism directives referred much as the context of the game,” creased government financing to the “regulation” of new courses. she said. “It can take four or five of grassroots projects designed A new ban on course construction hours to play a round. If someone to stimulate interest, especially was enacted in 2011, but there is agrees to play with you, it means among juniors. little indication of how effective you are important. Besides, Asians “If golf is to grow globally, it’s it will be. are drawn to the environment of a got to come from Asia, and for that Forward Management Group, golf course because they have so to happen it’s got to move from a Shenzhen-based golf course de- little of it in their everyday lives.” the privileged to the masses,” said sign company, said in its most re- The U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Steve Mona, chief executive of the cent annual research paper that Agreement, signed by President World Golf Foundation in Jackson- the number of “core” golfers in George W. Bush in 2003, was said ville, Fla. China, who played at least eight to have been hatched after a mid- Shanshan Feng didn’t have the rounds a year, had grown 11 per- night nine holes of golf in Brunei spotlight to herself for long. The cent year-over-year in 2010 to between then-President Bill Clin- week after her L.P.G.A. champion- about 330,000. The country was ton and Prime Minister Goh Chok ship victory, 14-year-old Andy host to 24 professional events, up Tong at the Asia-Pacific summit in Zhang, also from , qualified from 18 in 2009. And developers 2000. The matchup turned heads for the men’s U.S. Open tournament opened the equivalent of 60 new across Asia. Later, Goh acknowl- in San Francisco. Though Zhang 18-hole courses in 2010, bringing edged that Clinton had played bet- didn’t play well enough to survive the total number of courses in ter than he that night. Perhaps that the cut after two rounds, he was the country to 490. put the United States president in the youngest male ever to qualify Linda Lim, a native of Singa- a mood to consider Goh’s request for the elite event — another har- pore and professor of business at for a free trade pact. binger that Chinese golf is rising the University of Michigan, says Chu predicted that the inclu- in a manner that Mao Zedong golf blends well with business in sion of golf in the 2016 Olympics could never have imagined.

Asian The year 2008 marked a financial turning point for the Ladies Professional Women’s Golf Association, and a defining moment in its relationship to a rising wave Golf of talented Asian players. The onset of the global eco- sis began wiping out prize money sale of international TV rights,” nomic crisis arrived at a peak in and whole tournaments. Numbers said Mike Whan, who in 2009 was L.P.G.A. history: $60 million in prize fell by a third, victimized by tighter named L.P.G.A. commissioner, the money at 34 tournaments. But that budgets and fewer big-money eighth in its 62-year history. He year, the L.P.G.A. commissioner sponsorships. The sport’s pros- declined to quantify the value of unwittingly set off an uproar by pects had turned gloomy indeed. television rights, though many say warning Asian golfers on tour who Four years later, the L.P.G.A. is new broadcast deals in Asia are spoke little or no English that they rebounding — and its connection worth tens of millions of dollars better learn in order to attract more to Asia through the women on the annually — driven by a new gener- sponsors and viewers. Or else. tour turns out to be one of its key ation of Asian stars and their fans The ensuing backlash from assets. Michelle Wie, a Hawaiian watching at home in , Asian players and rights groups of Korean ancestry, is sponsored by Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City. was explosive. Carolyn Bivens re- Kia and McDonald’s. For a tour whose membership signed as L.P.G.A. commissioner. “After sponsorships, our most once was almost entirely from the Meantime the global financial cri- important source has become the United States and Europe, Asia now

82 Q4.2012 The Korn/Ferry Institute Briefings onTalen t &Leadership Sport Picture Library/Alamy Western audiences. Representa- From oneortwoeventsinAsia Hockey andTaylorMade Golf. Baseball andprofessionalfootballas He couldhaveaddedMajorLeague ried thatUnitedStatesaudiences more informationandcolorabout might notrelatetoAsianstarswho more familiartoTVaudiences fans maydiscussthemduring from SouthKoreaandtheNo. 1in in a very short time,” Whan said. in averyshorttime,”Whan and hadjobsinsportsatWilson non-United Statesaudiences. association isstrivingtoprovide are bibswornbycaddiesthatin- now canhandlethemselvesin- naments arenowheldonthat players whoarelessfamiliarto ball aroundtheworld,andwehave be treatedasciphersbytheUnited broadcasts. players lessonsinEnglish. the L.P.G.A., whichhasgoneglobal the L.P.G.A., terviews withthemedia,”saidMike tournament togive Indianapolis-basedLan- tives of Yanithe world, TsengfromTaiwan. the top200 players, including42 duced to make all L.P.G.A. players tomakeallL.P.G.A. duced land andanotherinMalaysia. tour- during the1970s, sixL.P.G.A. Sporting Goods, Mission ITECH $100 milliontryingtotakebasket - the Whan, States media.Ledby Scanlan, an L.P.G.A. spokesman. Scanlan, anL.P.G.A. guage Training Centertravelfrom career atProcter&Gamblein1987 clude players’Twitterhandles, so - includingoneinThai continent, contributes morethanaquarterof speak littleEnglishandwhomight struggled tofindinterestamong other examples of sportsthathave other examplesof “The N.B.A. probablyhasspent N.B.A. “The “Almost alltheAsianplayers Among innovationsintro- Whan, 47,Whan, startedhisbusiness The L.P.G.A. earlierhadwor- L.P.G.A. The

“isn’t whereweneedtobe.” Asian influence,’ ” he said. “Tell me Asian influence,’”hesaid. L.P.G.A. tournamentswillbeheld L.P.G.A. Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 11.Kuala LumpuronOct. But heacknowledgesthatthe from Asianstars. “Iremember for elders. is up40percentyear-over-year. ing sponsors and hosts, the L.P.G.A. ing sponsorsandhosts, the L.P.G.A. in Asia.SimeDarby, aleading Ma- when Ifirstcameinascommis- naments after 2008, the L.P.G.A. naments after2008, theL.P.G.A. an incredibleopportunity. We’re again whythisisabadthing.It’s non-Asian playersaboutcultural prize money. Hesaidviewership particularly asitrelatestorespect this year, paying$48millionin that almost a quarter of thisyear’s that almostaquarterof how Iwasgoingtodealwith‘the has increasedthatnumberto27 has taken precautions to brief its has takenprecautionstobrief differences withtheUnitedStates, laysian multinational,istitlespon- going tomakefauxpas, sure,but current number of tournaments tournaments numberof current sioner, everyonewasaskingme istherisinginterestresulting said, so what?” sor of the$1.9millioncontestin sor of An especially bright spot, he An especiallybrightspot, After falling to a low of 22 tour- After fallingtoalowof While touringAsiaandmeet- While Proof of Whan’s optimismis of Proof you notcheerforheronce she was16. been playing professionally since Michelle Wie, borninHawaii, has Russian gymnast OlgaKorbut Russian gymnast Praising theeffortsthatAsianplay- when he was young. “We didn’t when hewasyoung.“We ican culture,hecitedtheexample affair, hesaid,featuringdarts, bil- a dinnerpartyforthemediaather purchased fromherhero, there- Journal, TheNewYork Times,TheDetroit tired golf championAnnikaSoren- tired golf to me and said she wanted to throw knew her story?” he said. “We hesaid.“We knew herstory?” Scanlansaid. they offeratoast,” they handittoyou,drinkwhen have ahundredOlgaKorbuts.” house” inOrlando, whichshehad liards andtabletennis. like theRussians, buthowcould Free Press,FortuneandBloomberg. Doron P. Levin isaDetroit-basedjour- ers havemadetoblendinAmer- ers, youneedtorespectthem, stam, Scanlansaid.Itwasajolly study theirbusinesscardwhen nalist andauthor. Hehascoveredthe of Yani Tseng. of world autoindustryforTheWall Street “At 2011, theendof Yani came “We’ve toldourAmericanplay- “We’ve Whan recalledwatchingthe Whan Q4.2012 83