European Tour in 2011
The 2011 European Tour schedule will host 50 golf tournaments, which exceeds the number of tournaments held in 2010. With the season definitely ending with a bang in Dubai this year, many attached to the Dubai World Championship want to hold the event at
the Jumeirah Golf Estates for years to come.
The chief executive of the European Tour, George O’Grady, said that there has been a lot of talk about the DWC being held at two other locations in the Middle East. Qatar and Abu Dhabi want to take over the running of the US$7.5 million event. There is a
lot of interest from Qatar, where the third event of the Desert Swing will take place. The event is part of the four- week schedule and will be held in early February.
“The intention is to try to keep it here in Dubai for as long as possible. We had long meetings with yesterday with the chairman of Nakheel [Ali Rashid Lootah, whose company own the venue and provide funding for the tournament] and they are very excited
by the tournament,” said O’Grady.
The presenting sponsor, DP World, is also very eager, said O’Grady. He mentioned that they give them some deals in other events around the world. He said he is very confident that this event is here to stay. He said that Abu Dhabi and Qatar were looked at
for advice rather than options for an alternate location. The chief executive discussed whether staging events in the Middle East is a good thing for the European Tour and if they should go ahead with the plan.
There is news about two new courses in Abu Dhabi. Both being state of the art designs, the courses are called Yas Links and Saadiyat Beach. From everyone who has played on them this week, they were left with a positive feel.
The Tour will be utilizing the National Course for the annual HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship. The event starts on January the 20th 2011, and has been taking place since the last five years. With Martin Kaymer being the defending champion, the other
three major championship winners will be competing as well. The prestigious quartet along with the world number one, the tournament is bound to get very heated.
This tournament will also host a Player Committee on which the captain of the 2012 European Ryder Cup team will be announced. The captain will most likely be the Spaniard, Jose Maria Olazabal. Having been a suitable choice for captain, this talented golfer’s
only obstacle to captaincy is his health. He was diagnosed with rheumatism and even though he has put up a tough fight, the disease has affected his career to some extent.
The European Tour will start in South Africa and will end with the Dubai World Championship next December. With the tour being played on 29 courses this time, there will be new events in Malaysia, Bahrain and the Italian island of Sicily. Sicily will host
the event at the Donnafugata Golf resort in the South of the Island, where as Malaysia will host its second tournament. The first event staged by Malaysia was the Iskandar Johor Open which only used to be sanctioned by the Asian Tour.
It is also revealed that the Dubai World Championship will be held in December next year to accommodate the addition to the tour. The tour also said in a statement that from 2012, the schedule will be made to coincide with the calendar year. Meaning, it
would start in January and end in December.
The first event of the 2011 season, the Alfred Dunhill Championship, will start in South Africa from December 9th. With Martin Kaymer European number one, Lee Westwood World number one, the European Tour has gotten all the stars hoping for an amazing season
ahead.
Tags: