Scotland’s David Drysdale is delighted with news the Asian Tour will create golfing history with the staging late August of the inaugural St. Andrews Bay Championship at the Fairmont Resort in the Home of Golf nation.
The Asian Tour event, and this newest tournament on the lucrative International Series, will not only feature the best on the Asian Tour but surely feature a sprinkling of LIV players when staged from 24th to 27th August on the Torrance Course.
News of the Asian Tour hosting a tournament, and so close to the famed Old Course, may come as a surprise to many but then we saw earlier this year the DP World Tour hosting back-to-back events in Singapore and Thailand, and right on the Asian Tour’s front doorstep.
This inaugural $1.5m championship replaces the DP World Tour’s Hero Open staged for the past two years on the same course located at the outskirts of the Auld Grey Toon, and won in 2021 by Craigielaw’s Grant Forrest. However, the event has been dropped from the 2023 Race to Dubai schedule.
The Callaway attached Drysdale is no stranger to the Torrance course finishing 38th in the event two years ago and while missing the cut last year, he’ll probably be the only player teeing-up in the 156-player field with any prior knowledge of the Sam Torrance designed layout.
Dyrsdale said: “It’s great news for the Asian Tour and fantastic they’re taking the Tour to Scotland and the Home of Golf.
“We’ve got Close House on the schedule the week prior which is about a 90-minute drive from our home in Scotland, and with the Fairmont Resort about the same driving distance over in St. Andrews.
“I’ve played Close House before when it hosted the British Masters while I teed-up the past two years when the Hero Open was played on the Torrance course, so I know both courses really well which should hopefully help.”
The golfer affectionately known as ‘Double-D’ lost his DP World Tour card at the end of last year and along with his caddying wife, Victoria they accepted their fate and headed off to Thailand, superbly earning an Asian Tour card.
Now after who knows how many hours spent travelling from his beloved Scotland to all parts of Asia, he now has two Asian Tour events on home soil he can jump in his car and drive to.
Drysdale said: “It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. I’ve been out to Asia so many times in my career, so we’re pretty familiar with the course conditions, along with the heat and humidity.
“Now the Asian Tour announces it’s going to host an event in St. Andrews which is amazing. Vicky and I were saying it’s all part of this great new adventure we’ve been enjoying already this year.
David Drysdale teeing-off in a practice round ahead of this week’s Asian Tour’s International Series Vietnam
“And to be playing in Scotland is super news for all our family, friends and supporters who can see us tee-up in St. Andrews”.
Drysdale tees-up this week in the Asian Tour International Series Vietnam, taking place on the Greg Norman designed KN Golf Links course, and with a sprinkling of LIV players in Paul Casey, Aniban Lahiri and South African Justin Harding in the $US 2m tournament.
And despite being over 6,000 miles from home, Drysdale says the Vietnam course has a ‘home’ feel about it.
He said: “The course has a real Castle Stuart feel to it, and I’ve always loved playing Castle Stuart. There’s lots of elevation changes, it’s open and also could be affected by the wind.
“Although it’s a new course on the Tour schedule, so it’s going to be hard to tell how it plays if the wind picks-up”.
Drysdale also tees-up having come off a superb top-10 three weeks ago at the Tour’s event in Hong Kong.
