Final Series all set to dazzle
George O’Grady is out with news! It is going to be up to us to decide if creating ‘The Final Series’ is good news or bad.
The last four events of the year, culminating with the DP World Tour Championship (DPWTC), so says the Tour Chief, is designed to keep the cream of golf putting up a more dazzling show as they all sprint to The Race to Dubai finish line.
Of the last four big-money events, two will be held in China, an inaugural one in Turkey, and then one in Dubai.
They will have US$30.5 million (Dh112m) between them at the BMW Masters, WGC-HSBC Champions, Turkish Open and the DP World Tour Championship (all 78-man fields).
Organizers of the Tour, attempting to lure larger names for the Final said that eligibility for the season ending showdown requires that players tee off in the first two of the three events available.
Moreover, competing in all three, they stressed, will increase their Race to Dubai money-list standing by a bonus of 20 percent.
O’Grady, Tour Chief Executive said,
“The introduction of ‘The Final Series’ and the associated changes to the structure are being made to bring even more drama and excitement to the conclusion of our season and to further enhance the ‘Race to Dubai’”.
He added that the response to the change they had received from leading players had been “extremely encouraging” and “confidence-inspiring”.
Furthermore, he shared that they looked to make the European Tour completely at home in an “extremely challenging economic climate”.
O’Grady also called it a ‘cleaner’ finish to the campaigning than what the US PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup series had on offer.
“We did examine the FedEx Series proposal and whether we imitated the PGA Tour, but our system is cleaner,” he said. “The world’s No 1 player is winning the Race to Dubai. That’s the way it should be”.
McIlroy, having had come third at the Singapore Open a couple of weeks ago, has already made this season’s money list.
The world number one made a wave of controversy though, when he preferred playing a one-day match against Tiger Woods somewhere in China, instead of making an appearance at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai at the start of this month.
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