The 1962 Far East Circuit was the inaugural season of the Far East Circuit, the main professional golf tour in Asia since it was established in 1961.
Season outline The circuit consisted of five tournaments over five weeks, and was formed from the existing national open championships of the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore, along with the inaugural national open championship of Malaysia and the Yomiuri Shimbun sponsored Yomiuri International in Japan. There was a total prize fund of just over M$200,000, which included a bonus pool sponsored by Seagram of M$15,000 for the overall circuit prize.
Golfers from around the world participated in the tour, including some of the biggest names in Australian golf, and it was multiple Open Championship winner, Peter Thomson, who emerged as the circuit's first Order of Merit winner.
Schedule The following table lists official events during the 1962 season.
Date Tournament Host country Purse(US$) Winner Notes 11 Feb Philippine Open Philippines 11,500 Celestino Tugot (1) 18 Feb Singapore Open Singapore MS$28,000 Brian Wilkes (1) 25 Feb Malayan Open Malaya £A3,000 Frank Phillips (1) New tournament 4 Mar Hong Kong Open Hong Kong 9,000 Len Woodward (1) 11 Mar Yomiuri International Japan 15,000 Peter Thomson (1) New tournament
Order of Merit The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using total strokes.
Position Player Strokes1 Peter Thomson 1,4052 Kel Nagle 1,4223 Frank Phillips 1,4224 Bob Charles 1,430
Notes
References