Golf-European Tour announces early part of 2014-15 schedule

By Tony Jimenez LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The European Tour announced the early part of its 2014-15 schedule on Monday and it includes the Thailand Classic and Indian Open for the first time. The tour is going back to Thailand for the first time since the 2007 Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket. The Indian Open will also make its debut, with the tour co-sanctioning both new events alongside the Asian Tour. The European Tour has only announced the opening sector of the 2014-15 schedule. The remainder is likely to be disclosed at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next month. "The early sector is a period when we continue our strong relationships with the Asian Tour and Sunshine Tour which...will be further underlined when the three tours come together for the first time to tri-sanction the Mauritius Open at the start of May," chief operating officer Keith Waters said in a news release. - - - - 2014 Dec 4-7 Nedbank Golf Challenge, Sun City, South Africa 11-14 Alfred Dunhill Championship, Malelane, South Africa 2015 Jan 8-11 South African Open, Gauteng, Johannesburg 15-18 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 21-24 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, Doha Jan 29- Omega Dubai Desert Classic Feb 1 5-8 Maybank Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 12-15 Thailand Classic, Hua Hin 19-22 Hero Indian Open, venue to be announced Feb 26- Joburg Open, Johannesburg, South Africa Mar 1 5-8 WGC-Cadillac Championship, Doral, Florida 5-8 Africa Open, East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa 12-15 Tshwane Open, Centurion, South Africa 19-22 Madeira Islands Open, Portugal 26-29 Trophee Hassan II, Agadir, Morocco Apr 9-12 U.S. Masters, Augusta, Georgia (Editing by Alan Baldwin)