SENTOSA, Singapore (Asian Tour News) — Sihwan Kim has been rewarded for a phenomenal season on the Asian Tour by being voted The Players’ Player of the Year by the Tour’s membership, after the final count from an online poll was completed this week.
Players also voted the PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers as The Tournament of the Year, the International Series Thailand as The International Series Tournament of the Year, and Madinaty Golf Club in Cairo, Egypt, as The Players’ Choice Golf Course of the Year.
The $5 million Saudi event, played at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in February near Jeddah, was the opening tournament of the 2022 season and saw the Asian Tour enjoy one of the most memorable weeks in its history at an event that boasted the strongest field it had ever assembled, playing for one of its most lucrative prize funds.
The following month the International Series was launched at International Series Thailand, played at Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin, where victory went to Sihwan Kim.
Madinaty Golf Club, which opened in late 2020 and is at the forefront of the Egyptian golf scene, hosted the inaugural International Series Egypt in November — where former amateur star American Andy Ogletree won for the first time as a professional — and its golf course was an instant hit with the players.
“I am sure nobody is surprised that Sihwan Kim has been bestowed with one of the Asian Tour’s most important awards, The Players’ Player of the Year Award,” said Cho Minn Thant, commissioner of Asian Tour.
“This is a mark of true respect as it is voted for by the players, and it is justly served to a player who stayed dedicated and focused, patiently waiting for his time to come.”
Kim completed the finest season of his 11-year professional career at the season-ending Indonesian Masters when he wrapped up the Merit title, appropriately on the day he turned 34.
He finished the year with $627,458 in earnings, with Bio Kim from Korea second and Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent third.
The American also claimed the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge in Thailand, in April.
