What used to be The Ballantine’s Championship will be heading in just four weeks to Singapore.

www.golfbytourmiss.com has also learned the event will be moving to the Laguna National Golf  Club that is no stranger to hosting prestige tournaments.

Nick Dougherty wins 2005 Caltex Masters on the Laguna National Golf Club in Singapore.

It is good news for Singapore who last year lost out on hosting the co-sanctioned European and Asian Tour Barclays Singapore Open.

An event, and at this stage without Ballantine’s as sponsor, is down on the European Tour schedule and set to commence May 1st in South Korea with a prize purse of $US 1.5m.

News of the move to the island nation off the Malay Peninsula will certainly come as a shock to those who have already booked flights to South Korea.

The Ballantine’s Championship was first staged in March 2008 and with www.golfbytourmiss.com present when Graeme McDowell defeated his then fellow ISM management stablemate Jeev Milka Singh in a play-off on Jeju Island off the southern tip of South Korea.

It was then staged at the Pinx Golf Club on Jeju up to and including 2010 before moving to  at Blackstone Golf Club in suburban Seoul.

Past Caltex Master winners include  England’s Nick Doughtery who captured the 2005 event.

Dougherty shot a flawless five-under-par 67 to win by five strokes and clinch his first European Tour title today.

However the golfing gods smiled brightly on the then 22-year-old Dougherty, who was egged on by playing partner Thomas Bjorn to defeat defending champion Colin Montgomerie.

But the outcome of the US$1m co-sanctioned event hinged on a ruling at the 16th hole when Dougherty, just one stroke ahead of Montgomerie, drove into the face of a steep bunker.

Brett Rumford with supercaddy John ‘Ronnie’ Roberts on the bag captured last year’s Ballantine’s Championship.

A referee was called and gave Dougherty a free drop under a local rule as he would have endangered himself in attempting the shot as the ball was lying near some wooden planks embedded in the bunker’s face.

Dougherty was allowed to play from outside of the bunker and he hit his second shot to three foot and drilled the putt for birdie. Montgomerie, who looked bemused at the ruling, three putted from 30 foot for a bogey to fall three shots behind.

Dougherty put aside any controversy to finish in style with a birdie at the 18th to end on 18-under-par 270 and pocket a cheque for US$166,660 first prize cheque.

Past winners of the Ballantine’s Championship or what will now be called just The Championship include:- 

Year	Winner	Country	Score
2013	Brett Rumford	Australia	277 (–11)PO
2012	Bernd Wiesberger	Austria	270 (–18)
2011	Lee Westwood	England	276 (–12)
2010	Marcus Fraser	Australia	204 (–12)*
2009	Thongchai Jaidee	Thailand	284 (–4)PO
2008	Graeme McDowell	Northern Ireland	264 (–24)PO