“I think China is one territory that they’re going to look at,” Steinberg said. “And look at strong.”

The tour dabbled in Asia late last year by staging a silly-season event in Korea. The top 20 players from the PGA Tour money list were eligible for the Thanksgiving week tournament, and not surprisingly, the tour had to go beyond the 100th spot to find enough takers. Arron Oberholser wound up winning the $1 million first-place prize.

Whatever overseas plans the PGA Tour has depends on its schedule.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and Moorhouse are sorting through various models to present to the networks later this year when negotiations on a new TV contract get under way.

One possibility is to end the official season in September and start the following season late in the fall. Another option is a final two months of tournaments that count toward the world ranking, but not toward a money list.

Either case would allow for joint-sanctioned tournaments overseas.

“We’ll probably do more joint-sanctioned events in the future,” Finchem said in an interview earlier this year. “We’d like to play some more golf in Asia. We’d like to get down south a little bit. I don’t know how it plays out.”

The tour is not close to figuring out what its schedule will look like in 2007, or where it will play. Even talk of moving The Players Championship to May requires a half-dozen other pieces of the puzzle to fall into place.

But when asked if there was room for the PGA Tour in the Far East, Moorhouse left little doubt.

“Absolutely,” he said. “Our challenge is to work things out TV-wise and sponsorship-wise. It’s an emerging market in the world with a major population base. It’s a good place for the growth of golf.”

This week, that’s where most of the stars can be found.

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