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Oct 29th, 2015
The Race To Dubai 2015
What's going on? We try to explain it here...
Words: Dr Theodore Photography: Getty Images
Right. Hang on in there, please. We are about to try explain how the Race To Dubai works. We thought the Top 60 line up was complete following the completion of the Hong Kong Open. We were wrong..
Apparently the line up is not complete until the Turkish Airlines Open finishes this weekend. Then, the Top 60 players will progress to the next tournamant. If they feel like it, that is...
(Our hopeful comments in italics)
The first of four tournaments in the Final Series are now underway:
Now: Turkish Airlines Open by the Ministry of Youth and Sport
Next week (5th-8th Nov) WGC HSBC Champions at Sheshan International GC, Shanghai
Week after that (12-15th Nov) BMW Masters at Lake Malaren GC, Shanghai
DP World Tour Championship, Jumeirah Golf Estate, Dubai
40 million points available – 10 million for each event
1,666,600 points for the winner of each event
Top 60 available players on The Race to Dubai after Turkey will qualify for season finale
Top 15 on The Race to Dubai at the end of the season will share $5 million Bonus Pool
2015 Final Series & RTD Rankings
Each of the four Final Series tournaments, being the Turkish Airlines Open, The WGC- HSBC Champions, The BMW Masters and the DP World Tour Championship will have an enhanced Race to Dubai point’s breakdown totalling 8,000,000 points, with each winner receiving 1,333,330 points.
Ok, got it. There's a lot of moulah suddenly available for these tournaments. Understood.
Note:
1. Any player who participates in the Turkish Airlines Open, WGC-HSBC Champions or BMW Masters who was ranked below the 110th Ranked Member or Ranked European Challenge Tour Member on the Race to Dubai Rankings at the conclusion of the Hong Kong Open, will not have any points earned in these tournaments allocated to the 2015 Race to Dubai Rankings.
Right, so Graeme McDowell for example (currently 64th in the Race To Dubai standings and therefore out of the clutch Top 60) can play in the Turkish Open because he's famous, and earn cash, but he can't earn any points that would help him break into the Top 60 and therefore be eligible for the 'Final' in Dubai?
Furthermore any tournament invitations into the BMW Masters or Turkish Airlines Open are also excluded from having any points earned from these events allocated to the 2015 Race to Dubai Rankings.
Right, so – even though you haven't qualified for this event that the European Tour banged on about all season as requiring qualification – you can still play in the final series if you get a sponsors invitation? So, technically, even I could play if I had some mucky photos of the right people?
NB. Non-member winners of Final Series events cannot take up European Tour Membership until the start of the 2016 Season, so will not feature in the 2015 Race to Dubai Rankings.
Errrmm....
2015 Race To Dubai Bonus Pool
As in 2014 the 2015 Race to Dubai Bonus Pool will be divided amongst the leading 15 Players in The Race to Dubai Rankings as calculated at the conclusion of the 2015 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, as set out in the table below.
Got it, so the Top 15 at the end of the 'Final' get circa an extra €300,000 each (assuming it's dished out equally?)
The Bonus Pool will however not be treated as Official Money this year and will therefore not be added to the final Race to Dubai Rankings. This is to allow for the operation of an additional bonus scheme that will be paid out only to those players who participate in 3 out of 4 of the Final Series events as also set out in the table below.
Errrrm... do you mean you're trying to encourage players to play all the final series events? Quite confused now...
Race to Dubai Ranking |
Bonus (US$) |
Additional Bonus % for playing in 3 out of 4 of the Final Series events |
Additional Bonus |
| 1 | 1,250,000 | 50% | 625,000 |
| 2 | 800,000 | 25% | 200,000 |
| 3 | 530,000 | 25% | 132,500 |
| 4 | 400,000 | 25% | 100,000 |
| 5 | 350,000 | 25% | 87,500 |
| 6 | 300,000 | 15% | 45,000 |
| 7 | 250,000 | 15% | 37,500 |
| 8 | 200,000 | 15% | 30,000 |
| 9 | 170,000 | 15% | 25,500 |
| 10 | 150,000 | 15% | 22,500 |
| 11 | 140,000 | 10% | 14,000 |
| 12 | 130,000 | 10% | 13,000 |
| 13 | 120,000 | 10% | 12,000 |
| 14 | 110,000 | 10% | 11,000 |
| 15 | 100,000 | 10% | 10,000 |
TOTAL (US$) |
5,000,000 |
1,355,500 |
Ok, so it's not dished out equally. The winner, who will have so much cash anyway by this stage, will get an extra $1.25million from the bonus pool. Personally I can't see anyone getting very excited about Rory landing another million. Apart from Rory, maybe...
Rory. Not short of a few euros
• The DP World Tour Championship, Dubai winner receives a five year European Tour Card exemption. The winner of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai secures Category 2 Membership as does the winner of the BMW PGA Championship.
Appealing to Dany Willett no doubt, but Rory?
• The season finale took place in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 on the Earth Course designed by Greg Norman. The last four holes measure exactly one mile – 1760 yards – comprising a short par four, a long par four, a par three and a medium to long par five.
Lovely stuff
• A full Member in Categories 1-11 of The European Tour must play 12 tournaments to qualify for DP World Tour Championship, Dubai which by playing in would enable him to reach the minimum number of 13 required to retain full Membership of The European Tour.
Unless you're Rory McIlroy, in which case we'll make a big exception
A player must compete in the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai to receive a payment from The Race to Dubai Bonus Pool and therefore to be eligible to finish Number One and win The Harry Vardon Trophy unless he has a Mitigating Circumstance*. Affiliate and/or Category 15 Members do not have to play a minimum of 12 as they do not have the right to enter tournaments and can only play on invites or qualification.
My eyes are starting to bleed...
* Mitigating Circumstance: A player withdrawing from the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai for reasons of injury, serious disability or personal emergency which is deemed acceptable** by the Chief Executive (in his absolute determination) will remain eligible to receive any applicable Bonus Pool payment.
Got it, Nice and and arbitrary...
Now, has everyone got that?
Chris Wood: If he could
A load more info about who got what when
• England’s Lee Westwood won the inaugural Race to Dubai in 2009, winning twice during the season – in the Portugal Masters and the Dubai World Championship – and accumulating a record €4,237,762. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy finished second and 15th place went to Ireland’s Padraig Harrington.
• Martin Kaymer succeeded Lee Westwood as The Race to Dubai champion in 2010 to become only the fourth continental European to win the Harry Vardon trophy, following in the footsteps of the legendary Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer and Robert Karlsson. Kaymer won four times in 2010, capturing his maiden Major title at the US PGA Championship in addition to the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, the KLM Open and the Alfred Dunhill Championship on his way to €4,461,011 to finish ahead of Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell. England's Luke Donald finished 15th.
• Luke Donald became the third winner of the Race to Dubai when he completed an historic money list double to become the Number One player on both The European Tour and the US PGA Tour. Donald won three times during the season, capturing the WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship, the BMW PGA Championship and the Barclays Scottish Open. He was runner-up on another two occasion and finished in the top ten a further five times, finishing outside the top ten only three times in a remarkably consistent season. His earnings of €5,323,400 set a new European Tour record. Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy finished second with 2010 Race to Dubai Champion, Martin Kaymer, third. Louis Oosthuizen took 15th place.
• Rory McIlroy went one better in 2012 by taking the Number One honours with new record earnings of €5,519,118. He also emulated Donald's feat of winning both the Race to Dubai and US PGA Tour Money List after a season where he won five times around the world, including the US PGA Championship - by eight strokes - and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, and rose to World Number One. His remarkable consistency saw him finish in the top five nine times in 15 events. England's Justin Rose finished second with South African Louis Oosthuizen third. Paul Lawrie finished tenth.
• Henrik Stenson followed Donald and McIlroy by completing a similar but unique transatlantic double in 2013, taking the Number One spot to become the first man to win The Race to Dubai and the US PGA Tour's FedEx Cup in the same season. Won three times around the world, including the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, to finish almost €1million clear of Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell. A tied third finish at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open kick-started a season-defining run that saw the Swede claim a career-best second place finish at The Open Championship followed by a tied second at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and a third place finish at the US PGA Championship. Eagled the last at Jumeirah Golf Estates to spectacularly close out a superb six-shot win in Dubai and a stunning double triumph.
• In 2014, Rory McIlroy repeated his 2012 heroics to become the first player to win the coveted Race to Dubai for a second time. McIlroy, whose victory at The European Tour’s flagship event – the BMW PGA Championship - inspired a season-defining run of form, won four tournaments on his way to picking up a second Harry Vardon Trophy to add to his growing trophy cabinet that was also enriched by two Major Championships in 2014. The Northern Irishman enjoyed a remarkable hat trick of summer victories which virtually ensured one hand on the Race to Dubai crown. First came a notable win at Royal Liverpool for the The 143rd Open Championship, which was then backed up with his debut World Golf Championships title at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Finally came a second conquest on US soil in as many weeks as he dramatically snatched victory at the US PGA Championship while darkness descended on the 18th green at Valhalla. A valiant tied second place finish at the season finale in Dubai capped an incredible season where he amassed an unassailable 7,149,503 points.
• The leading 60 players in The Race to Dubai (ranked according to their points from all events on The European Tour International Schedule) following the conclusion of the Turkish Airlines Open held the previous week will qualify for the end of season event.
• During the 2013 event, it was announced that The Race to Dubai has been extended through to the 2017 season. The next edition of The Race to Dubai will once again conclude with the season-ending finale at Jumeirah Golf Estates, which will again carry a Bonus Pool of US$5 million. Furthermore, at least one staging of the championship will be on the complex’s Fire course between 2014 and 2017.
