European tour seeks to ride out Gulf crises

O'Grady said a decision won't be made "for several months" on whether the Volvo Golf Champions tournament will be held for a second year in Bahrain. This year's inaugural event, held in late January, was problem-free and deemed a success, he said.

Authorities in Bahrain have cracked down heavily on dissent since anti-government protests began in mid-February. The unrest has left 30 people dead, including four opposition supporters who died in custody, and forced Formula 1's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix to be called off.

"Bahrain is being monitored all the time," O'Grady said. "If we are advised not to go, we would do the same as F1. I don't think anyone fully knows. It will be up to the golf federation in Bahrain and the king as our hosts. We started in Bahrain and we hope we can continue."

Colin Montgomerie, who designed the Bahrain course, said how the situation unfolds will determine if the event goes ahead. "Of course, it's concerning, especially for local Bahrainis," said the Scot. "But at the same time, I think George is dead right in saying it's too early to say regarding the Bahrain tournament next year. We all hope that the unrest will come to an end and there is peace in the region once again."

O'Grady played down the long-term implications of the unrest, noting that the European Tour has navigated political challenges before, including the Gulf and Iraq wars as well as terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom. He also said the Nigerian Open in the 1970s was disrupted by an uprising in the African country that forced players to remain housebound. "You have had terrorist attacks in Britain but you continue the tournaments don't you?" he said. "You don't run scared. When the Gulf War was on, we came to Qatar when a lot of other sports wouldn't come. We reckoned we were safe there. Some players were worried but we honour our agreements."

O'Grady said he has no regrets with the move into the Gulf which now features five tournaments, including the year's first tournament in Abu Dhabi, one in Qatar and the season-ending, $7.5 million tournament in Dubai. The tour has also held preliminary talks with Saudi Arabia on hosting a Senior Tour event and with Oman over hosting a sixth European Tour event in the coming years.

O'Grady said talks are also ongoing regarding keeping the season-ending Dubai World Championship in the city. It is no secret that Abu Dhabi would like to host the event that concludes the Race To Dubai.The three-year contract with government-owned developer Nakheel ends after this year's tournament.

Prize money for the tournament has also been reduced from $10m to $7.5m due to the economic crisis that hit Dubai.

"We are comfortable in Dubai as long as all our partners in Dubai wish to continue," O'Grady said. "The Race to Dubai has been synonymous with Dubai and the European Tour through largely good times and in the last couple of years more challenging times. I'll be surprised if we don't continue in Dubai."