European Tour gets major revamp
Monday, 06 Oct 2008 20:45
Padraig Harrington is the current leader of the Order of Merit
The 2009 European Tour has been given a revamp with the Order of Merit being replaced by a big-money end of season in Dubai.
Instead of players vying to be crowned European Order of Merit champion, they will now compete to take part in the Dubai World Championship at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in November 2009. Known as 'The Race to Dubai' the top 60 players of the season will compete in Dubai for a massive £11.3 million.
The 60 players who qualify for Dubai will automatically share £5.6 million amongst themselves with the players who finish in the top 15 of the race sharing another £5.6 million and the final leader of the race getting another £1.1 million. The winner of the Dubai World Championship will get £2 million.
"We are excited about the start of the Race to Dubai and the superb quality of the field for the HSBC Champions in Shanghai (were the season starts), with five of the top seven currently active players in the world all entered," said George O'Grady, chief executive of the European Tour.
"The Race to Dubai will bring a new dimension to the European Tour and the partnership with Leisurecorp is central to our plans for the future."
The European Tour has been increased to 53 tournaments in 26 countries, with new events like the Czech Golf Open, English Open, Canal+ Open, Volvo World Match Play Championship and Dubai World Championship.