The European golf tour has arrived in Australia with the Johnnie Walker Classic kicking off in Perth today. There has been much talk over the past few months about the inaugural ‘Race To Dubai’, and how the prize money on offer may shift the balance of power in golf away from the U.S
Over the next 10 months golfers on the European Tour will earn big dollars at events held in 26 countries across the globe. In November the 60 golfers who have made the most money will meet in Dubai to play in a tournemnt with a prize pool of $10M U.S…plus an extra $10M to be shared amongst the top 15 placegetters at that tournament.
The massive amounts of money being thrown around by the Middle Eastern Sheiks has seen some of international golf’s biggest names pledge their desire to play more European events this year. Young players such as Camillio Villegas, Michael Kim and Ian Poulter have signalled their intentions early in the season, deciding to make the trip Down Under to play the Johnnie Walker rather than the U.S tour event starting today in California.
Phil Mickelson has been in talks to play more European events this season, and when you add regular tour event players such as Vijay, Els and Garcia you have the foundations for an extremely strong tour.
It is interesting to note that 14 of the main PGA tour events have financial institutions as their major sponsor. With regards to the global economic crisis, when you compare where much of the funds are coming from on the respective tours (banks v.s sheiks) it begs the question about where the top players will be playing the majority of their events in ten years time. While everyone knows of the money in Dubai, some of their lesser know neighbours such as Qatar are getting in on the act and putting up large sums of money to host their own events.
And to make matters even more interesting, the minimum number of events you need to play on the European tour to be eligible for the season ending bonanza has been raised from 11 to 12. European tour organizers have been quick to downplay any rivalry with the tour across the atlantic but their actions speak louder than words. They are looking from more of a committment from the top players to events on the European schedule.
Top players lead to television ratings, which lead to more money for the rights, which leads to more prize money available and the snowball begins rolling from there. To top it all off the world’s top players are of more varied nationalities than ever before with seven countries represented in the world’s current top ten players. It was only a matter of time before a truly global tour emerged as a serious alternative to The Big Show in the U.S.
So what does this all mean? Well, amongst other things…more opportunities to gamble on golf I suppose. Not a bad thing at all.
