Dubai Is Calling, Players Are Answering

by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 9, 2008 8:08 AM EDT

So, hastily on Sunday night, Vijay Singh talked to the media - after he clinched the FedEx Cup and promptly stormed out of Bellerive to avoid talking to the media in that glass-enclosed observation tank that BMW set up in the media room.

Vijay was so excited about winning the FedEx Cup that he is already talking about next season. And by next season, I mean that he intends on playing on both the PGA Tour and European Tour in order to have a chance at capturing the Race to Dubai crown and its potential $20 million payout.

Moments after clinching the PGA Tour's FedExCup playoff series on Sunday night, Singh spoke enthusiastically about competing more in Europe.

The incentive, of course, is the new Race to Dubai -- a new season-ending series that will serve as the European Tour's answer to the FedExCup playoffs and which will culminate with the Dubai World Championship next November -- and Singh is prepared to play the 11 European Tour events that are required to be eligible.

"I plan to play 11 and if I qualify for Dubai, I'm obviously going to play that as well," said the big Fijian, who won the first two PGA Tour playoff events before finishing tied for 44th at the BMW Championship on Sunday.

Singh is already a European Tour member, but he played in only eight events last year and has made only eight so far this year, so the lure of the Race to Dubai seems to be proving the attraction the Tour was hoping for.

Apparently, according to the report, Singh isn't the only one stepping up to claim full European Tour membership so they can have an easy path to both the FedEx Cup Playoffs and Dubai World Championship.

The Race to Dubai event has also persuaded talented Australian Adam Scott to retain his European Tour membership for 2009. And the Tour will receive a huge boost if Phil Mickelson also joins, which is expected soon.

World No. 2 Mickelson has been tight-lipped, admitting only that he has not ruled it out, no doubt preferring to make a big announcement when he is ready.

THIS is what Mickelson talked about when he was so glad about the new volatility in the FedEx Cup. He could play less here and manage his schedule to get entry into the FEC Playoffs and the Dubai World Championship. Now, instead of playing for a maximum prize of about $15 million in the Playoffs (winning every event and that bonus of $10 million), he could now be playing for an additional $3.7 million in the Dubai World Championship. Oh, and a nice side effect is that he will earn millions in appearance fees from European Tour events - something banned here in the United States.

You see, players are lazy, but they're smart. They would much rather play the European Tour, play a few extra tournaments outside of the WGCs and majors, get free money just for stopping by, and have a shot at one tournament for about $4 million. It's a good ROI for potentially bad golf.

I would really like to go to Dubai next year. Is there any way we can make this happen, George O'Grady?

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why not ?

Vijay still plays tournaments like a tour rookie – as many and as often as he can – so why not take a run at Dubai ? Top players already start the year with 7 or 8 tournaments that count on both tours. Pick a time of year to play in Europe, and play enough in the US to be top 10 or so in Fed Ex points – that’s not so bad. All of a sudden, he becomes a year long story like a driver who drives the Indy 500 and Coca Cola 600 on the same day.

(RB – “stormed” out ? that implies anger. just because he doesn’t want to be in a glass box doesn’t mean he’s angry)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Sep 9, 2008 9:13 AM EDT reply actions

Completely agree

He should do it. When the Race to Dubai came out last year, I was saying that it’s going to get all the top stars to take their Euro Tour cards, including US players. It’s working. Not that hard to skip 3 Shell Houston Open-ish events to go play 3 useless European national championships.

by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 9, 2008 9:18 AM EDT up reply actions

Add to that...

…the fact that the Euro Tour starts in November. Take a couple of months off after the Tour Championship, then play a bunch of Euro events through January or February before heading over to the PGA Tour schedule.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Sep 9, 2008 9:31 AM EDT reply actions