European Tour Introduces £10m Season Finale

Golf’s European Tour has revamped its calendar with the introduction of a new season-ending tournament in Dubai with the richest prize money fund in the sport’s history of £10m.

The Dubai tournament will take place from the end of the 2009 season and will form a climax to the year with the existing Order of Merit which crowns the number one player over the season renamed as The Race to Dubai.

There will be a prize fund of £5m for the limited-field event to be named the Dubai World Championship with another £5m bonus to be divided among top players.

The Order of Merit winner will receive – at the current exchange rate – a bonus of £976,562.

‘The Race to Dubai will bring a new dimension to the European Tour,’ said European Tour chief executive George O’Grady.
‘It will create great drama and theatre throughout the year as all the best players in the world are given the opportunity to compete in the world’s richest tournament.

‘Moreover, as the European Tour has become ever-more global in its outlook it has become increasingly important to us to have an international base in a strategically-placed location.’

The European Tour’s new international headquarters will be established at Jumeirah Golf Estates, which will host the inaugural Dubai World Championship between 19th-22th November, 2009.

The changes come on the back of an increasing number of European players opting to take part in the PGA Tour in America.