Race to Dubai riches unveiled as lucrative alternative

THE Race to Dubai, which begins with the HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, China, next month, is the European Tour's replacement for the Order of Merit. It marks the start of a season-long competition where golfers will aim to qualify for the pot of gold on offer at the Dubai World Championship in November 2009.

There will be 53 tournaments staged during the inaugural race, which will visit 26 countries along the way before reaching a climax with the lucrative season-ending tournament at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai from 19-22 November next year.

In essence, the Race to Dubai is a competition throughout the year to further reward the most successful players on Tour.

The bonus pot for the year is worth $10million and will be allocated to the leading 15 players after the last putt has been sunk at the Dubai World Championship. The top player will get $2million, the runner-up $1.5million, third place gets $1m down to $250,000 for 15th. The golfers who finish 16th or lower, however, will miss out.

All this is in addition to the $10million in prize money put up by Leisurecorp for the Dubai World Championship itself. Here the first prize is $3.6m. It is possible if a golfer wins both the Dubai World Championship and the Race to Dubai bonus pool, he will take home $5.6million.

With such riches on offer, it is hardly surprising US-based players of the calibre of Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Camillo Villegas and Anthony Kim are all mulling over the possibility of joining the European Tour.

In order to be eligible and claim one of those top 60 places in Dubai next year, all European Tour golfers will have to compete in 12 events. According to David Spencer, the golf chief executive for Leisurecorp, they expect many of the top players in the world to be involved.

"We think the Race to Dubai will give a boost to the European Tour in a number of ways," he said. "First, more of the players will enter tournaments if they see they have a chance of getting into the Dubai World Championship. It is quite possible we will see an influx of players from the American Tour who feel they can also get in."

European Tour chief executive George O'Grady added: "We have to compete both with other Tours and other sports. Bigger and more exciting tournaments help give our Tour more profile and make it more exciting for players and spectators alike."

More immediately, the reason for putting on a record number of tournaments over the next 13 months is because two of the forthcoming events – the HSBC Champions and the UBS Hong Kong Open – will each be played twice. The explanation for this apparent anomaly is because the Tour plans to return to a schedule in 2010 which will last for a calendar year. In 2010, the Race to Dubai is due to start with the South African Open on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates in Western Cape and conclude with the Dubai World Championship on the course specially designed by Greg Norman for the tournament. This means Leisurecorp will pen the first and last chapters of the competition from 2010. In some respects, the 2009 version is a staging post on the road to 2010.

The Race to Dubai, in many ways, is an upgraded version of old Volvo Order of Merit where a bonus pool was paid out to the players after the season ended with the Volvo Masters at Valderrama. As O'Grady pointed out, however, the Race to Dubai represents the globalisation of this concept.

"It's the old Volvo Tour on a global scale," he explained at Turnberry yesterday where the announcement was made. "We were grateful for what Volvo did 21 years ago in giving us confidence in Europe. This will give us confidence around the world. There is a changing landscape in golf and we are very lucky with our partners."

On this year's schedule, which was announced earlier than usual to tie in with the launch of the Race to Dubai, there are five new events, or at least tournaments which were not on this season's schedule – the Czech Golf Open, the English Open at St Mellion, the Canal Plus Open, the Volvo World Match Play Championship and the Dubai World Championship.

Other changes in 2009 include the Johnnie Walker Classic returning to the Vines Resort in Western Australia, where it was last played in 2006; the Indonesia Open moving to the New Kuta Golf Club in Bali; the European Open occupying a new date between the BMW PGA and the Celtic Manor Wales Open; and the SAS Masters returning to Barsebäck in Sweden where it's been played eight times in the past.

Ten events have still to confirm venues, including the British Masters. However, O'Grady insisted that in spite of the financial downturn 98 per cent of the 2009 schedule was rock solid.