The Asian Invasion

The Asian Invasion of the British Open, backed by
Johnnie Walker, is expected to yield another successful conquest when 25
Asian PGA members attempt to play their way through final qualifying for a
prized spot at St Andrews, Scotland.

Although the travelling party is smaller compared to previous years, Asian
PGA supremo Ramlan Dato' Harun is in upbeat mood. He is confident that more
players will successfully negotiate the demands of qualifying to join
Myanmar's Kyi Hla Han at the hallowed Old Course for the Open proper from
July 20-23. Han has been invited as the winner of the 1999 Davidoff Tour
Order of Merit.

"We have made giant strides forward in recent years and following the
experience gained from previous trips to the Open qualifying, I'm confident
our members are now equipped with the knowledge to tackle the gruelling
qualifying test under unfamiliar conditions," said Harun.

The Royal and Ancient has recently released the qualifying draw where four
courses - Lundin Links, Leven Links, Ladybank and Scotscraig - will be
used. An estimated 480 hopefuls, including some famous names in golf, will
battle through 36 holes for about 50 remaining places at St Andrews.

In 1997, Singapore's Mardan Mamat, Gaurav Ghei of India and John Kernohan
of the United States qualified for Royal Troon while Choi Kyung-ju of Korea
and Australia's Grant Dodd made it through to Royal Birkdale the following
year.

Prayad Marksaeng became the first Thai to qualify for the Open last July
and Asian PGA representative Gilberto Morales of Venezuela joined him in
the Carnoustie field.

Ghei, who is the first Indian golfer to play at the Open, will find comfort
from this year's qualifying draw as he will play at Lundin Links with
Kernohan. When both qualified three years ago, they had featured together
in the same venue, Irvine Bogside.

Another incentive for Ghei is that qualifying for St Andrews will take him
back to the course which witnessed one of the most stunning upsets in golf.

At the 1996 Alfred Dunhill Cup, Ghei stunned Europe's perennial number one,
Colin Montgomerie of Scotland in a historic win for India.

Lundin Links, which offers a mixture of true links conditions and parkland,
will host the biggest Asian PGA contingent consisting of nine members.

England's Ed Fryatt, who has won national opens in India, Indonesia,
Malaysia and China, will play in the same group as 1986 British Open
runner-up, Gordon Brand.

Other players at Lundin are Hong Kong's Scott Rowe, Taku Yamanaka of Japan,
the South African trio of Des Terblanche, Nico Van Rensburg and Hendrik
Buhrmann and American Clay Devers.

A fourth Springbok, James Kingston, holder of two titles already on this
year's Davidoff Tour, will head the Asian PGA cast at Ladybank with
Morales, Mamat and Scott Taylor of the United States.

At Leven Links, which is a true seaside links golf course, India's Amandeep
Johl has been provisionally paired with native American Notah Begay III in
the final qualifying although Begay, winner of back-to-back titles at the
St Jude Classic and Canon Greater Hartford Open recently, should gain an
exemption from the mini Order of Merit on the PGA Tour which grants British
Open places to leading players.

Taiwan's Yeh Wei-tze, the Benson & Hedges Malaysian Open winner, will also
play at Leven in his bid to follow compatriot Lu Liang-huang's footsteps.
In 1971, "Mr" Lu, characterised by his pork pie hat, finished runner-up to
American Lee Trevino at Royal Birkdale in what is the best finish by an
Asian player at the Open.

Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee, who hasn't missed a cut all year on the
Davidoff Tour this season, will hope to emulate Prayad's feat at Scotscraig
where he will have for company India's Jyoti Randhawa, the 2000 Wills
Indian Open, South African Craig Kamps and American duo Ahmad Dan Bateman
and Aaron Meeks.

India's Jeev Milkha Singh, who plays regularly on the European Tour, has
withdrawn from the final qualifying due to injury.
United Distilers and Vintners Asia Pacific Managing Director Ed Shyurng
said: "Asian golf is on the upswing and I'm delighted that a group of
professionals from the the region will be competing in the final qualifying
rounds for the British Open.

"It is the dream of every golfer to play in the British Open and we at
Johnnie Walker are pleased to help them on the road to fulfilling their
ambitions."

Johnnie Walker's backing means that players can travel together, stay
together, practice together and generally help one another in what has
become an Asian PGA team effort.