Dual Tour Memberships Could Yield Financial Privileges For Pro Golfers
Call it the FedEx Cup minus the mathematical permutations. If you are among the 60 leading players at the conclusion of the 2009 European Tour season, you get to play in a tournament that offers a $10 million purse while also getting a shot at a $10 million bonus pool.
It is being called the Race to Dubai, and the money on offer in 2009 is serious enough stuff that PGA Tour players such as Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh have expressed interest in European Tour membership. Robert Allenby has already joined, and Masters champion Trevor Immelman will, too.
They would not be abandoning the PGA Tour, just doing what several world-class players such as Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have been doing for years: playing both tours.
And it is not as difficult to do as you might think, despite the decision Tuesday to increase the minimum number of required events for European Tour membership to 12. The PGA Tour minimum is 15, but seven events — the four major championships and the three World Golf Championship events — count on both tours.
So Mickelson, who is already scheduled to play in November’s HSBC Champions event (which is part of the 2009 European schedule) and has routinely played the Scottish Open the week prior to the British Open, would need to add just three events to qualify — and one of them would be the season-ending tournament in Dubai.
Mickelson said at the Tour Championship that he was unsure if he would join the European Tour but is “certainly considering it.”
In July on the eve of the Scottish Open, he was more definitive. “With my kids not being older, last year I went to Singapore and China and brought them with me, and we were able to use that as an educational couple of weeks.
“With our [PGA Tour] season ending earlier, it gives me three months in the offseason to isolate a couple of weeks when I can go play and do that, and I intend to. I would like to play more on an international level. I’d like to play more in Europe.”
And making it more enticing is the Race to Dubai, the new name for what the European Tour used to call its Order of Merit, or money leaders.
Unlike the FedEx Cup, which has a season-long points race to determine who qualifies for the first of four season-ending events, the Race to Dubai will use the European Tour money list to determine the 60 players who qualify for the season-ending Dubai World Championship, to be played Nov. 19-22 at Jumeirah Golf Estates in the United Arab Emirates.
Not only will a purse of $10 million be at stake — with $1.6 million going to the winner — but there is also a $10 million bonus pool. The No. 1 player on the money list at the end of the tournament will receive a $2 million bonus, with the runner-up getting $1.5 million and the third-place finisher $1 million; prizes will be awarded on down through a $250,000 payout for 15th.
It’s not FedEx Cup money — Singh earned a $10 million bonus and runner-up Camilo Villegas got $3 million, with payouts all the way down to $32,000 for 150th place — but it’s simpler and will require less work. And if a player has a good run in the majors and the no-cut world events, he can do a lot of damage on the European money list.
Harrington, for example, leads the money list despite playing in just 12 tournaments. Of course, he won two major championships, tied for fifth at the Masters and had top-20 finishes at two WGC events.
The Irishman had hoped the number would remain at 11 so as to attract more Americans to play the European Tour.
“I think it would strengthen our tour if they came,” said Harrington on Tuesday at the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. “If we could attract players like Phil and Vijay, it is basically a bigger pot for everybody. We have attracted the best players from South Africa, Australia and Asia, but we’ve never had an inflow from the U.S. Tour.”
Don’t expect a mass PGA Tour exodus. Tiger Woods, for one, has said in the past he was not interested in taking up European Tour membership — and that was before the minimum was increased to 12 tournaments. And the money and playing opportunities are too good in the United States, even with the recent economic concerns.
But for those so inclined, adding a few more tournaments around the world will be quite easy — with a possible big payoff.
“I do feel like we’re going to see a few more Americans turn into more of a global-style of player,” said Immelman, who is from South Africa. “I definitely think there is that possibility. Obviously, it’s tremendous prize money that they’re putting up and playing in the Middle East is a blast. The weather is always great and you always get looked after real well.”
- Bob Harig, ESPN.com.
