News
Dubai is business end of season for Tour players
12 July 2009
Back to Archive
As the juggernaut that is the inaugural Race to Dubai season continues to roll on, the tournaments played week in week out across the globe bring together not only the crème de la crème of the golfing world but also the who’s who of the business world. Whilst the players battle it out on the course, the tournaments provide the ideal opportunity for key figures from the business world to partake in networking and deal striking.
As George O’Grady, the Chief Executive of The European Tour used last weekend’s Scottish Open as an opportunity to strengthening existing ties between The European Tour and the Asian Tour at the Barclays Scottish Open, the players involved undoubtedly feel it is also time to get down to the business end of the season and the Dubai World Championship in November. Defending Barclays Scottish Open Champion Graeme McDowell admits that The Race to Dubai continues to be a focus for him and many other players on Tour:
“I’ve got one eye on the end of the season,” said McDowell. “This year hasn’t been anything special, but my game is not too far away. I just have to keep plugging away so I’m in the Dubai tournament.” “All the players love Dubai. We love going out there, because it is an exciting city. We always get well looked after, and these are some great events coming up over there.”
With the current effects of the global ‘credit crunch’, many sports have felt a ‘tightening of the purse strings’ however, golf does not appear to be struggling during this difficult economic time. The 138th Open Championship (the 3rd Major of the season) is set be hosted on the stunning Ailsa course at Turnberry in the coming week and this prestigious tournament carries with it a substantial combined prize fund of £7m (42.7m AED), whilst the season ending goal of many European Tour players, the Dubai World Championship offers a huge prize fund of US$10m in addition to the US$10m that is up for grabs from The Race to Dubai bonus pool.
Dubai and the Middle East have become a key part of The European Tours schedule with the Desert Swing falling early in the year and now the finale event being played on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in November. Dubai has an undeniable pull around the world both in business and in sport and with many world class sporting fixtures already present on the Dubai calendar, the Dubai World Championship is a fitting addition to an already extensive list of fixtures.
