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1996–97 Asia Golf Circuit season
Duration	17 October 1996 – 27 April 1997
Number of official events	10
Order of Merit	Kim Jong-duck
Rookie of the Year	Dean Wilson
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

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.

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]

Notes

^ One further tournament was scheduled but was removed from the schedule.
^ 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.
^ JPN − PGA of Japan Tour.
^ Proceeded as an Asian PGA Tour event.^[1]

References

^ "APGC sees red as Indonesia joins rival Asian PGA tour". The Straits Times. Singapore. 10 October 1996. p. 48. Retrieved 30 December 2023 – via National Library Board.
^ "1997 Asian Tour final money list". Calgary Herald. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 28 April 1997. p. 44. Retrieved 30 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "金鍾徳" [Kim Jong-duck] (in Japanese). Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 30 December 2023. ９７年、当時アジアンツアーの最終戦でもあった『キリンオープン』で６打差を逆転して優勝。日本での韓国選手の優勝は７２年『日本オープン』の韓長相以来、ツアー制度が施行された７３年以降では初めてのことだった。この優勝で出場権を得て以来、日本を主戦場に活躍。 [In '97, he won the Kirin Open, which was also the final round of the Asian Tour at the time, by coming back from a six-stroke deficit. It was the first time a Korean player had won in Japan since Han Chang-sang at the Japan Open in '72 and since the tour system was introduced in '73. Since winning this championship, he has been active in Japan.]
^ "Golf | Wilson honored". The Honolulu Advertiser. Honolulu, Hawaii. 15 May 1997. p. 32 (D4 in paper). Retrieved 6 March 2024 – via Newspapers.com.