Will a Japanese golfer achieve a big breakthrough?

Singapore

SAVE for one important aspect, it's all things Japanese at the SMBC Singapore Open tournament that begins on Thursday and ends on Sunday.

The sponsor of the US$1 million event is Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, a multinational banking and financial services company which opened its doors for business in Singapore in 1963.

Record crowds of almost 8,000 every day are expected, boosted by an invasion of golf-mad Japanese fans from here and abroad.

Merchandise sales - shirts, caps and souvenirs - are tipped to grow because of corporate spending by the Japanese who believe in offering g…