Scottish Open prize fund set to rocket to £5.6m next year

Prize-money for next year's Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open is set to rocket to £5.6 million after it was included in a new Rolex Series on the European Tour.

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley announced the new Rolex Series at a press conference in Dubai this morning. Picture: Getty Images

The pot for the event’s first visit to Dundonald Links in Ayrshire was already set to rise from £3.25m to £3.5m but it is now increasing by a further £2.1m through a subsidy from the European Tour and Rolex.

The Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open is one of seven events included at the moment in the inaugural Rolex Series.

It is due to start with the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in May, with the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Portstewart second on the list the week before the Scottish Open.

The fourth tournament will be the Italian Open in October before the Series concludes with three events in a row - the Turkish Airlines Open, the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the DP World Tour Championship.

The latter three events formed the Final Series this season but it is being scrapped.

All the Rolex Series events will offer minimum prize funds of $7m, with the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai featuring a pot of $8m.

Plans are in place to increase the number of Rolex Series tournaments in future seasons.

“We are delighted to unveil the Rolex Series today and we are committed to developing and building on it over the coming years,” said European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley at a press conference in Dubai this morning.

“The Rolex Series will celebrate the highest quality of golf and the international spirit of the game; values that Rolex and the European Tour strengthen with this announcement.

“We are tremendously proud to have Rolex as our partner in this exciting new venture and we thank them for their continued support.”