Dubai: European Tour CEO George O’Grady, speaking on the sidelines of the DP World Tour Championship here on Sunday, pledged to review the rules and regulations of the ‘Final Series’.
The lucrative new four-event crescendo to the European Tour’s Race to Dubai — made up of two tournaments in Shanghai, the Turkish Airlines Open and the DP World Tour Championship — was designed to add excitement to the end of the season. But the condition that golfers must play in two of the first three events to qualify for the Jumeirah Golf Estates finale has proved controversial.
That small print meant star players Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia and Charl Schwartzel were ineligible to play this week despite finishing inside the tour’s top 60.
The European Tour was trying to guarantee its new partners the attendance of the best players, but some took exception to the additional travel and workload at the end of a long season.
O’Grady said: “I want to bring common sense back into our own rule if we can. If guys want to play here, we don’t want to make rules that mean they can’t.
“It’s fair to say we underestimated the amount of golf our leading members have played.
“The Final Series brought really good promoters and really good sponsors to the table, and we will refine the details surrounding it to help its development.
“I can’t at this moment tell you how we are going to refine them. We have been talking to a lot of our players this week, but talking during the heat of competition is not always the best time. So calmly we will reflect and, as and when we are ready, announce what these regulations will be.”
