The Asian Tour celebrated historic feats and toasted great champions during what proved to be a truly magical 2008 season.
India's Jeev Milkha Singh, who won the Order of Merit for the second time in three seasons, played his way into Asian golf annals by becoming the first million-dollar man during a season where he won US$1.45 million following one victory and two runner-up finishes.
A record 30 events offering an all-time high US$39 million also saw the Tour welcome new and exciting stars in seven first-time winners, including Rookie of the Year Noh Seung-yul of Korea, Malaysia's Ben Leong, Australian Rick Kulacz and Singapore's Lam Chih Bing, who triumphed in the season-ending Volvo Masters of Asia last weekend.
Established names such as Thaworn Wiratchant and Thongchai Jaidee, both from Thailand, continued to enhance their reputation by winning their 10th career titles, making them players with the most wins on the Asian Tour.
Chinese Taipei's Lin Wen-tang celebrated the best season of his career by winning twice and finishing second on the Order of Merit with US$844,734. He also ended the year in 49th place on the Official World Golf Ranking to secure a maiden appearance at the Masters Tournament in April, the first Chinese Taipei player to do so in 20 years.
Apart from Lin and Thongchai, New Zealand's Mark Brown resurrected his career by winning two titles during an exciting 12 months which saw the Asian Tour travel to 17 different countries as the game continued to boom across the region.
The burgeoning Tour also saw the region's players increase their earning power as an unprecedented 59 players made over US$100,000 during the season, which delighted Kyi Hla Han, the Asian Tour's Executive Chairman.
"I'm really pleased with our 2008 season. It was our greatest season ever with a record Schedule on offer but what was more satisfying is the fact that our players continued to show that they are world class," said Han.
Brown, Lin and India's Arjun Atwal won co-sanctioned events with Europe while Singh, who also triumphed twice in Japan and once in Europe to rise to 35th in the world, pulled off a memorable victory at the Barclays Singapore Open, beating Major champions Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els by one stroke.
"Jeev has enjoyed another stunning year. As one of the first players to feature in Asia during the mid-1990s, he has grown in stature through hard work and dedication and he is a fine ambassador of the game for the Asian Tour," said Han.
"It was extremely pleasing to see Jeev become the first player in our history to earn over US$1 million during a season and it shows the growing strength of the Asian Tour. He is a source of inspiration for many young players," he added.
While Han was delighted that old warhorses like Thaworn, Thongchai and Lu Wen-teh of Chinese Taipei continue to sparkle with victories, he was delighted to see a new wave of exciting players emerge.
Noh, only 17, became the third youngest to win a tournament at the Midea China Classic while Malaysia's Leong, Korea's Bae Sang-moon, Rick Kulacz of Australia are in their early 20s.
"It is extremely rewarding to see so many young players winning tournaments as part of our goal is to unearth new talent through playing opportunities on our Tour. Other young players like India's S.S.P. Chowrasia and Angelo Que of the Philippines also tasted victories which reflect positively on the growth of the Tour.
"I was also thrilled to see last year's number one Liang Wen-chong of China pull off a second career victory at the Hero Honda Indian Open where he shot a new 18-hole record of 12-under-par 60," said Han.
Han also tipped his cap off to the Asian stars who performed admirably on the Major stage. Singh finished tied 25th in his second appearance at the US Masters and later went on to enjoy a career first top-10 at a Major by finishing tied ninth at the US PGA Championship, a feat matched by Korea's Charlie Wi.
Another Korean, K.J. Choi, an honorary member of the Asian Tour, contended at the British Open while Liang and Lam made more golf history by becoming the first player from China and Singapore respectively to feature in all four rounds at the Open.
"Our top players have continued to show that they can compete against the best players from the world. Judging from their performances, it is only a matter of time that an Asian wins a Major championship," said Han.