Golf: Dubai to retain championships

The European Tour yesterday announced that their season-ending championship will remain in Dubai and the Jumeirah Golf Estates for the next three years.
European Tour Chief Executive George O’Grady also said that the prize money of the championship will be increased to eight million dollars for 2012.
However, details of the Bonus Pool of the Race to Dubai, the year-long Money List on the European Tour, will be released at a later date, with O’Grady saying that the Tour is looking for a couple of partners for the Race to Dubai.
DP World, the Dubai-based world’s third largest marine terminal operators, will continue to sponsor the championship, and will now be known as the ‘DP World Tour Championship, Dubai’.
The next three editions of the tournament will return to Jumeirah Golf Estates, host venue since the inaugural Race to Dubai in 2009. The increased prize fund would mean the winner’s cheque would become USD 1.33 million instead of the present USD 1.25 million.
From 2012, the field will once again comprise the leading 60 players who qualify through all officially-sanctioned tournaments on the European Tour’s schedule.