This is the part of the global golf calendar in which the Western Hemisphere takes a back seat to what is happening in Asia and Australia.  Tiger and Phil are playing their non-Western schedule with the hopes of racking up titles and multimillion dollar appearance fees.  (Tiger's not in it for the money, though.  He turned down $5 million to play in the Australian Open to play in the Aussie Masters for $3 million.  DISCOUNT!)

Well, Augusta National wanted to get in on the action as well.  After all, they've been inviting sort of random Asian players to participate in the Masters for the last several years.  They see the growth of the game there and, naturally, want to plant an Augusta Asia flag.  Perhaps it culminated at a professional level when they invited Ryo Ishikawa to play in the Masters this past April.

Since they can't put together another professional golf tournament to compete with the HSBC Champions' of the world, ANGC decided to create the Asian Amateur Championship.  The winner of the tournament gets a Masters invite, like the US and British Amateur champions.

Obviously, the folks at Augusta are wise to the fact that the ole Western Hemisphere isn't churning as fast as it had been.  Economic growth is, well, negative.  Westerners demand more freedoms and protections because they've grown weak and complacent.  And, golf isn't growing in the West.  It's shrinking.  Almost all of Jack Nicklaus' course design projects (except those purchased through the Neiman Marcus catalog) are in Asia.

"With golf's growth stagnant in the West, the key to the game's future lies in Asia," says Tenniel Chu, Executive Director, Mission Hills Golf Club - host to the Asian Amateur.

If golf had a Magic 8 Ball, all signs would point to Asia.  It's a nusiness frontier for golf that is maturing before our eyes.

(Don't worry, South America, you're next.  Africa, you're last.)

So while the superstars of the game are still from the West and while the most Official World Golf Ranking points are there as well, the new kid - Asia - is going to get all of the love an attention from the industry.  It's the baby.  Occasionally, the baby will need changing, like a better organization for the Asian circuit.  OneAsia is coming to do that. 

But, for now, the West is left to fend for itself.  It's not that we'll be eating leftovers.  We'll be fine.  It's just that we won't get notes in our lunches anymore.