1996–97 Asia Golf Circuit

The 1996–97 Asia Golf Circuit was the 36th season of the Asia Golf Circuit (formerly the Far East Circuit), one of the main professional golf tours in Asia (outside of Japan) alongside the Asian PGA Tour.

1996–97 Asia Golf Circuit season

Duration	17 October 1996 (1996-10-17) – 27 April 1997 (1997-04-27)
Number of official events	10[a]
Order of Merit	Kim Jong-duck
Rookie of the Year	Dean Wilson
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1996–97 season.

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse (US$)	Winner[b]	OWGR points	Other tours[c]	Notes
20 Oct	Chinfon Republic of China Open	Taiwan	300,000	Hong Chia-yuh (a) (2)	12
1 Dec	Tugu Pratama Indonesian PGA Championship	Indonesia	–	Removed[d]	–
8 Dec	Andersen Consulting Hong Kong Open	Hong Kong	350,000	Rodrigo Cuello (1)	14
16 Feb	Mitsubishi Motors Southwoods Open	Philippines	250,000	Takao Nogami (1)	12
23 Feb	Konica U-Bix Manila Open	Philippines	200,000	Yasuharu Imano (1)	12		New tournament
9 Mar	Benson & Hedges Malaysian Open	Malaysia	300,000	Lee Westwood (n/a)	14
16 Mar	Thai Airways Thailand Open	Thailand	300,000	Christian Chernock (1)	12
23 Mar	Rolex Masters	Singapore	300,000	Kyi Hla Han (1)	12
30 Mar	Classic Indian Open	India	300,000	Ed Fryatt (2)	12
20 Apr	Philippine Open	Philippines	300,000	Kevin Wentworth (1)	12
27 Apr	Kirin Open	Japan	¥100,000,000	Kim Jong-duck (2)	22	JPN

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.^[2] The leading player on the Order of Merit earned status to play on the 1997 PGA of Japan Tour.^[3]

Position	Player	Prize money ($)
1	Kim Jong-duck	156,231
2	Ed Fryatt	119,420
3	Kevin Wentworth	107,523
4	Larry Barber	96,072
5	Gary Rusnak	75,653

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Rookie of the Year (Tun Abdul Hamid Omar Award)	Dean Wilson	[4]

See also

• 1997 Asian PGA Tour

Notes

1. One further tournament was scheduled but was removed from the schedule.
2. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Asia Golf Circuit events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Asia Golf Circuit members.
3. JPN − PGA of Japan Tour.
4. Proceeded as an Asian PGA Tour event.^[1]