Hong Kong Open reverts to Asian Tour after four-year LIV Golf interlude
The Hong Kong Open will revert to Asian Tour status this November after a four-year partnership with LIV Golf, the Asian Tour said on Thursday.
Source: South China Morning Post · August 14, 2026 at 4:08 AM · AI-assisted report
Single-source
KUALA LUMPUR, 14 AUGUST 2026 —
The Hong Kong Open will revert to Asian Tour status this November after a four-year partnership with LIV Golf, the Asian Tour said on Thursday.
Market Impact
The 67-year-old tournament had been co-sanctioned with LIV under the International Series from 2023 to 2025, but will return to sole Asian Tour ownership before a planned tie-up with the DP World Tour (DPWT) resumes in 2027. Four to five tournaments are expected to benefit from the DPWT partnership, the Tour said.
The change follows the Public Investment Fund’s decision to withdraw from golf, ending a US$300 million funding package that powered the International Series. The series’ final event was the Morocco Open in June, won by Taichi Kho. Planned stops in India and China were scrapped, the Philippine Open remains on the Asian Tour calendar and the November PIF Saudi International hangs on Middle East security conditions.
“LIV was concentrating on the LIV Golf League, but our little pocket of International Series events was almost sustainable,” Asian Tour commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant said. “We got to places we would never imagine the Asian Tour would go, and it opened everyone’s eyes to global golf.”
The Hong Kong Open gained from that exposure. Last year’s winner Tom McKibbin pocketed US$360,000 and secured Masters and Open Championship entries. Both majors are expected to maintain relationships with the Asian Tour in the coming weeks.
Under new rankings rules, the Asian Tour order of merit winner earns a DPWT card for the following season. If rankings were decided today, that berth would go to Kho, who is second behind Travis Smyth. Second and third on the list earn status on Europe’s second-tier HotelPlanner Tour, while the top three non-exempt players also gain a spot in the DPWT Q-School final stage.
“In 2027, we’re going to co-sanction four to five events,” Cho said. “It’s an opportunity for our players, who I feel are much more competitive now, to win and instantly become DP World Tour members. Four, five or six players will probably get onto the DP World Tour every year.”
The loss of International Series events in India and China has reshaped priorities for players like Kho. The Hong Kong golfer, who is defending his Asian Games gold medal, now sees Taiwan and Macau as more critical stops on his calendar.
“I was planning to establish myself in Japan a bit more, but with this opportunity coming up, I want to give myself as many chances as possible on the Asian Tour to play well,” Kho said.
“I think going back into the global ecosystem of DP World Tour and PGA Tour, they had a long partnership with the Asian Tour before all this came along, so it’s a proven model and hopefully it continues to thrive.”
The Asian Tour expects a 22 or 23-event schedule next year, a drop it calls temporary. “What’s happened in the last four to five years has opened their eyes, and we’re being treated a lot better than we were previously,” Cho said.
LIV players will still have a home, according to Cho. Scott Vincent and Carlos Ortiz, who play for HyFlyers and Torque GC, will retain their places, while other LIV players who ask for invites will be considered “if they add value to the Tour.” LIV Golf cancelled its US$40 million team championship on Wednesday, making next week’s Indianapolis event the season finale.
For Malaysian business readers, the shift shows how global sports funding cycles can reshape regional tournaments and player pathways overnight.