The Dubai World Championship
Dubai will play host to the world's richest golf tournament beginning in 2009 with a prize fund of $10 million US Dollars. The Dubai World Championship, to be held at the Jumeirah Golf Estates, will be the closing event for the PGA European Tour, with the Order of Merit being renamed The Race to Dubai.
The championship will include an annual $10-million bonus pool, with the winner pocketing $1.66 million. The tournament will initially run for five years with the option of extending it for another five years.
The player finishing top of The Race to Dubai at the end of the season will receive $2 million. If a player wins both the Dubai World Championship and the overall season title, he will earn a total of US$3.66 million.
European PGA Tour chief executive George O'Grady has said "The Race to Dubai will bring a new dimension to the European Tour, creating great drama and theatre throughout the year as all the best players in the world are given the opportunity to compete in the world's richest tournament".
Currently, the US Tour's Players Championship is the richest single event, offering prize money of $9 million. "The Race to Dubai" is set up to be a credible alternative to the PGA Tour for golfers who do not want to take up residence in the US
The inaugural Dubai World Championship will take place at the Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 19th-22nd, 2009, on either the Greg Norman designed Fire or Earth courses.
Dubai and the oil-rich United Arab Emirates are trying to establish themselves as a premiere location for golf. Dubai is already home to the Dubai Desert Classic, with Tiger Woods picking the city as the location for his first golf course design. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, chairman of Dubai World stated that The Dubai World Championship is another step in Dubai's evolution as one of the most important golf centres anywhere in the world.
