PETALING JAYA: The Asian Development Tour (ADT), which is the feeder circuit to the elite Asian Tour, received a massive boost when it was awarded official World Golf Ranking status from 2013 onwards.

From next season, all winners of ADT events will receive a minimum of six World Ranking points while the top-six players and ties will earn points based on a sliding scale.

The landmark decision was made by the official World Golf Ranking Board at Lytham St Annes, England, last week.

The ADT joins the Web.Com Tour (United States) and European Challenge Tour as the only secondary circuits in the world to receive World Ranking status.

The top-three players on the final ADT Order of Merit will also earn Asian Tour cards for the following season while the fourth to 10th placed golfers will go straight into the final stage of Qualifying School.

Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla-han said it was a tremendous recognition for the Asian Tour as the ADT was launched in 2010 with just five events before growing to eight last year. This year, the ADT will stage 13 tournaments.

“This is a wonderful recognition and a tremendous milestone for the Asian Tour and our ADT,” he said.

Among the Malaysian golfers playing in the ADT are Nicholas Fung, Danny Chia, Shaaban Hussin and R. Nachimuthu.

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