Dubai event retains major appeal

Dubai: A significant percentage of the world's top 60 golfers will still be scheduling a stopover in Dubai to compete for a total prize pool of $15 million (Dh55 million) when they play in the Dubai World Championship from November 19 to 22.

The European Tour's premier tournament is being sponsored by Leisurecorp, formerly Istithmar Leisure, a subsidiary of Dubai World.

Established in 2006, Leisurecorp is now a part of Nakheel and invests in sports and leisure activities with golf being its principal focus.

Although it is being speculated that the Dubai World Championship, the European Tour's premier tournament, will be considering a cut in prize money from its original amount of $10 million to $7.5 million, the amount speculated to be on offer is still on a par with that being offered by the three premier tournaments that make up the Desert Swing series namely, the Abu Dhabi Golf Championships ($2 million); the Qatar Masters ($2.5 million) and the Dubai Desert Classic ($2.5 million).

To boost this cheque further is apparently an extra $7.5 million from the season-long points event, or Race to Dubai, that has replaced the Order of Merit. This will take the total prize fund to a staggering $15 million. The cut off tournament for the final 60 players to be determined will be the UBS Hong Kong Open from November 12 to 15.

The scale of the prize money alone is further highlighted when compared to the $2.5 million purse on offer to 126 players in the Dubai Desert Classic, a high profile European Tour event.

The world's richest tournament, the Players Championships played at Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida, offers a purse of $9.5 million.

Despite the purse being slashed it is understood that the world's top golfers are still committed to making an appearance in Dubai.

According to an unnamed source in the UAE's golfing circles: "There is still a lot to play for."

It is also believed that George O'Grady, the European Tour's chief executive, is scheduled to visit the emirate in the next couple of days. Grady is expected to meet with other partners in the Middle East during the course of this visit but details were not immediately known.

European Tour officials were not willing to divulge any further details of O'Grady's visit except to read from a prepared statement when contacted by Gulf News.

Roddy Williams a spokesman for the European Tour said: "The agreement [with the sponsors] is proceeding as planned but George O'Grady will be making a visit to the region in the near future."

On November 19, it will be fairly evident that despite the global challenges that lie ahead Dubai continues to honour its commitments.