THE conveyor belt of Asian talent has gathered pace and the name of Noh Seung-yul can be added to the list of players to watch out for.
The 18-year-old South Korean won the Malaysian Open in fine style last week.
He canned just about everything on the green and smashed the lights out of the ball off the tee.
It is a frightening combination when it comes together. The young South Korean is following in the footsteps of compatriot YE Yang, who won the PGA championship last season. And with Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa making a rapid ascent up the rankings, it looks as though we are entering a golden period for Asian golf.
South Korea, in particular, is reaping the benefit of massive investment in the game.
South Korea players have commandeered the US women’s tour and maybe in the next few years the men will do likewise.
Golf in Asia is enjoying an explosion but, like all emerging markets, it can be volatile.
The European Tour had the insight to tap into the Far East early on and we enjoy tournaments in China, South Korea, Malaysia and India.
The Americans have taken note and they are including their first sanctioned tournament in the region, the £3.4million Malaysia Asia Pacific Golf Classic in October.
The Asia Tour is also very strong but there is friction with the new OneAsia Tour, which is an amalgamation of the Australian, Chinese and Korean tours.
Players have been threatened with fines for playing on rival tours so there is plenty of political manoeuvring off the course. Where there are large sums of money to be made there is bound to be fierce competition.
The European Tour has a solid foothold in the Far East, however. I enjoyed playing in Malaysia last week. The course was fantastic, as were the facilities, but the conditions were brutal.
Temperatures were above 100 degrees and there was 100% humidity.
I was drinking nine litres of water per round and I had to wear a bigger glove.
You only have to look at the scoring to see how the northern European players struggled as the week went on and the conditions got the better of us.
It will have cooled down by the time we get to China and South Korea later this month.
It should not be quite as debilitating either for the players in the world golf championship Doral’s Blue Monster course in Florida.
With Tiger Woods’s comeback a few weeks away, the tournament is wide open.
The European contingent has a great chance of following Ian Poulter’s victory in the world match-play last month with another world golf event triumph.
Poulter, Paul Casey, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer and Henrik Stenson are all in the top 10 in the world rankings.
They go there believing they can win – and I agree with them.