SINGAPORE (AFP) Asian golf experienced a year of upheaval in 2009, but the season will also be remembered for Yang Youn-Euns Major win and the appearance of Tiger Woods just weeks before his image hid the skids. It was a challenging time as sponsors reviewed their sporting commitments amid the global financial meltdown and several tournaments fell by the wayside. The Asian Tour also suffered from the emergence of the OneAsia Tour, backed by Australia, Korea and China, which took over several of its events. The two Tours do not see eye to eye with the Asian Tour accusing its rival of being unethical, and the bitter verbal jousting ran most of the year. With OneAsia announcing at least 11 tournaments for 2010 and the Asian Tour resolutely refusing to entertain any thought of a merger, next year is shaping up as a battle for supremacy. As well as the OneAsia events, the Asian Tour will sanction at least 28 tournaments, making 39 altogether for the busiest year on record. As with all major international Tours, it has been a challenging season for the Asian Tour in respect to the global financial crisis and economic slowdown which have affected all industries, Asian Tour chief Kyi Hla Han told AFP. However, we launched three new tournaments in Thailand this season while a number of other tournaments also enjoyed growth in their prize money allocation as well. Asked about OneAsia, he said: The Asian Tour is fully focussed on our own development and growth. Our players have consistently performed on the Asian Tour and on the international stage over the years and we anticipate they will continue to excel next year, he added. He said an enhanced television platform, with Britains Sky Sports, Australias Fox Sports, and VIASAT in Scandinavia all to broadcast Asian Tour events, meant far better exposure and sponsors were keen to come on board. OneAsia is equally upbeat, with acting chief executive Ben Sellenger hiring a high-profile media and marketing partner to enhance their exposure. Our ultimate vision is to have 25-plus tournaments. That would be a full schedule. And in five years time we would hope that all of our tournaments would offer 2.5 million dollars or more in prize money, he said. With so much money sloshing around, the key next year will be whether any Asian Tour players defy Kyi Hla Han and decide to compete in OneAsia events. The few that did so this year were fined and banned. Away from the tug-of-war for market share, Thailands Thongchai Jaidee was the standout performer, sealing a third Asian Tour Order of Merit title, beating Chinas Liang Wenchong to the top prize. I played better than the other years, Im enjoying it and Im working very hard with my coach and changed my swing and my body is stronger, said the 40-year-old Thai. But the biggest achievement was South Koreas Yang becoming the first Asian to win a Major when he held off Woods to claim the PGA Championship. It propelled him into the global spotlight, and the 37-year-old found the going tough, struggling to perform after the momentous win. Its honestly been a very, very tough schedule, he said. Im enjoying it but my body is not following my heart and my brain. Its taking its toll on me a bit but hopefully I can tolerate and work through it. Woods came to China and Australia just weeks before the revelations about his private life became public. While it was Phil Mickelson who won the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, the world number one was clearly the star with bumper crowds. Woods and Mickelson predicted a massive future for golf in China, and Asia more generally. The game is exploding over here and its just a matter of time, said Woods. Once again, Asian women were a force on the USLPGA Tour, with Koreas Shin Jiyai and Kim Il-Kyung, Taiwans Yani Tseng and Japans Ai Miyazato all winning tournaments. Koreas Ji Eun-Hee lifted the US Open. Meanwhile, Mahendra Singh Dhonis India ended 2009 as the number one Test side in the world, but the militant attack on Sri Lankas players in Pakistan changed crickets landscape in Asia. The horrifying attack which injured seven Sri Lankans and eight locals as armed militants opened fire on the team bus in Lahore on March 3, saw security dominating the agenda for the rest of the year. The attack, the worst on sportsmen since the massacre of Israeli athletes by Black September guerrillas at the Munich Olympics in 1972, ensured Pakistan was blacklisted as a major cricketing venue. The International Cricket Council (ICC), which had already shifted the Champions Trophy out of Pakistan, also took away the 14 matches the volatile nation was due to host in the 2011 World Cup. Pakistan protested, threatened legal action and sought to hold its World Cup games in the United Arab Emirates, but the ICC was unmoved as co-hosts India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh insisted it was a South Asia tournament. Pakistans matches were distributed among the other three nations, who in turn agreed to forego the hosting fees of 10.5 million dollars that were due to the Pakistan Cricket Board. As political tensions between Pakistan and India grew, World Cup organisers played safe and scheduled all of Pakistans matches in Sri Lanka, except the final which will be played at Mumbais renovated Wankhede stadium. Despite the troubles, Pakistani cricketers gave their fans reason to celebrate when Younus Khans men won the World Twenty20 title in June by beating favourites Sri Lanka in an all-Asian final at Lords. Typical of the intrigue and backroom politics in Pakistan cricket, Younus was removed as captain and dumped from the team before the year had ended amid reports of a players revolt against him. While Pakistan played its cricket at neutral venues because no team wanted to go there, India too could not escape the heightened security environment following the Mumbai attacks in November last year. The Indian Premier League (IPL) was shifted to South Africa after the government declined to release security forces for the lucrative Twenty20 tournament because it clashed with parliamentary elections. On the field, India thrashed Sri Lanka 2-0 at home in December to top the official Test rankings for the first time, relegating the islanders from second place to fourth. Sachin Tendulkar, the worlds leading Test and one-day batsman, began a third decade in international cricket in November since making his debut as a 16-year-old in Pakistan in 1989. But it was the brilliant Virender Sehwag who stole the show, his 293 against Sri Lanka in December narrowly denying him a chance to surpass Australian legend Don Bradman and West Indian great Brian Lara with a third triple century. There were warning signals for the hyped-up IPL, where the worlds top stars earn big bucks to turn out for cash-rich franchises, as Indias vast cricket-crazy television audiences favoured country over club. IPLs second season in South Africa failed to generate the same excitement as the first edition, and its off-shoot, the T20 Champions League, barely created a ripple in India in October. A recent poll conducted in India by the Lords-based Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) revealed that 58 percent of respondents preferred T20 internationals, but just four per cent chose the IPL - lower than even Tests (seven per cent). The 50-overs-a-side game continued to rule despite critics fearing its future as packed grounds in India witnessed the one-day series against Australia and Sri Lanka. Elsewhere, Bangladeshs Shakib Al Hasan was voted Wisden Cricketer magazines player of the year as the minnows won their first overseas Test series against a weakened West Indies.