Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington has high hopes for golf in Asia as he prepares to tee-off at the Barclays Singapore Open starting Thursday.

By Eugene YS Han from Sentosa

Asia is expected to be the next hotbed of golf development with the continent seeing more high profile events on its golfing calendar. Among these are the Barclays Singapore Open - the richest national Open at US$5million - as well as the WGC-HSBC Champions starting next week in Shanghai.

At the same time, Asia has recovered much more quickly than the rest of the world from the economic crisis and thus sponsors are still giving financial backing to golf events. With golf entering the Olympics in 2016, the sport is expected to explode in countries like China and India.

Harrington, who finished joint second with Ernie Els last year, believes the future of golf lies in Asia.

"Golf around the world where it's growing is in Asia. I think it's very evident that in terms of sponsorship and things like that Asia is the place to be," Harrington told ESPN STAR Sports.  

"Just like Barclays have put up US$5 million this week. It's not easy to find such sponsors like that.

"Barclays know there's value in sponsoring golf events in Asia. It's very popular here. They hit the market (where) they want to hit and it's very important that a large part of the future of golf is in Asia."

The 39-year-old Irishman also thought the extended schedule in Asia is important for international golfers like him because they travel halfway across the globe.

"It's fantastic for us because the big key for players like us is when we come across to Asia, we want to play a string of events so we got Barclays this week and then WGC-HSBC next week, two very large tournaments," he said.

"It's easier to come and play two or three events. If you just come for one week, you don't get over your jetlag and then when you get home and you (continue to) struggle for a week or two.

He added: "We want to come over to play two, three tournaments which means we can compete with our full strength and get over our jetlag."  

Harrington will tee-off at 1250 HKT together with Liang Wenchong, China's number one golfer, and Asian Tour veteran Anthony Kang of USA.

* ESPNSTAR.com's Ian Griffiths and Eugene YS Han will be at the Serapong Course in Sentosa during the course of the event. Catch the Barclays Singapore Open LIVE on STAR Sports starting from Thursday, October 29 at 1330 HKT.

* Send in your comments to hanys@espnstar.com