Dubai: The European Tour unveiled the Rolex Series, which will take place from next season onwards, on the sidelines of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Tuesday.
A minimum of seven events each with a prize-purse of at least $7 million (Dh25.7 million), will form the new year-round series within next year’s European Tour season, both of which still end with the DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai concept.
The Rolex Series takes the place of the four-stage Final Series, which was created in 2013 to ensure the Race to Dubai wasn’t decided before the season finale thanks to larger prize purses in the last four events.
European Tour chief executive officer Keith Pelley said the Rolex Series was created to: “Elevate the tour’s brand, offer stronger content to reach larger audiences, and provide stronger financial offerings so players don’t have to go to the US.”
Pelley also didn’t rule out the number of tournaments in the Rolex Series growing over time.
A second money-list, the Access List, was also announced, which excludes money earned from the season’s most lucrative events, in order to give lower ranked players something to play for. The top 10 on the Access List retain their cards for the following season and the top three will feature in selected Rolex Series events.
