Johor Open set to become European Tour event

10 May 2010 , By MSN Sport (http://sport.malaysia.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4073713)

The Johor Open is set to become a co-sanctioned European Tour and Asian Tour event as Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) extended its sponsorship by five years on Friday.

Tournament organisers said they were working towards a joint sanction agreement from 2011 onwards.

"Securing the joint sanction has been a dream of the organising committee and we have been working very closely with IMG, the event promoter, to secure this," said Johor chief minister Abdul Ghani bin Othman.

"We are pleased to say that we are very close to finalizing the deal."

The tournament, which this year is sanctioned only by the Asian Tour with one million dollars in prize money, was given a big boost by the sponsorship agreement.

"We are pleased to confirm our commitment to this tournament for an additional five years," said IRDA chief executive Ismail Ibrahim.

"The vast tourism potential offered by golf is something that we recognize and acknowledge."

South Korea's K.J. Choi is the defending champion.

The Asian Tour is this year co-sanctioning six events with the European Tour.