European Tour unveils early 2010 schedule, with much to be filled in

WENTWORTH, England (PA) -- With negotiations for some tournaments still going on, the European Tour Monday released its 2010 schedule only up to the Masters at Augusta in April.

The season will, as in the past few years, actually start this year with two events in South Africa before Christmas.

Two new events for the circuit -- the Africa Open in South Africa in January and the Hassan II Trophy in Morocco in March -- feature in the first section. However, the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia, the Malaysian Open and the Indonesian Open, with a combined prize fund of more than $4 million in 2009, were missing from the early schedule.

Among the changes expected to be seen when the full schedule is released is a move for the Irish Open, both in date and location. An announcement is set for this week that the event will move from mid-May -- the weather was horrendous this year -- to July 30-Aug. 2 and from Baltray on the east coast to Killarney on the west.

"We are delighted that, with the support of our partners in Dubai, we can confirm the way forward for the Race to Dubai (the new name for the Order of Merit) prior to the inaugural competition concluding in the United Arab Emirates next month," said Tour Chief Executive George O'Grady.

"The Race to Dubai has brought a new dimension to our season and we are confident that, by continuing to globalise the game, it will grow in stature with the best golfers in the world being given the opportunity to compete in an exciting and dynamic season-long competition."

With prize money for the coming Dubai World Championship slashed by 25 percent, there had been some speculation that the economic crisis around the world in general and Dubai in particular might see another change.

But Hamza Mustafa, acting managing director of Dubai sponsors Nakheel Leisure, said: "We are committed and proud to take our partnership with the European Tour forward into the new season.

"The inaugural Race to Dubai has been a phenomenal success and I believe we are currently seeing the benefits of the new format with some impressive fields in the latter part of the season as players race to qualify for the Dubai World Championship," he added. "We have already received more than 56,000 registrations for free tickets to the event and have some exciting plans in store for spectators."

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