European Tour raises purse for Final Series, unveils tweaks to format

VIRGINIA WATER, England – The bonus pool for the European Tour's season-ending Final Series has been increased to $5 million as part of a series of changes that includes a new qualifying format.

 

The prize fund, up from $3.75 million, will be shared by the leading 15 players on the Race to Dubai money list competing at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, the last tournament of the season.

 

The field will increase to the top 60 available players, rather than only those finishing inside the top 60, and players will no longer be required to play in a minimum of two of three Final Series tournaments that precede the World Tour Championship. 

 

There will also no longer be a requirement for European Tour Members to participate in a minimum number of Final Series events, although they must still fulfil their minimum overall event obligation to be eligible for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, held at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

 

Changes to the FedExCup-style series were announced Monday following criticism of last year's format from the likes of Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia.

 

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The 2014 Race to Dubai again will conclude with the BMW Masters and the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, followed by the Turkish Airlines Open and, finally, the DP World Tour Championship.

 

"The new regulations and the new points system are a good move," said Thomas Bjorn, chairman of the European Tour's Tournament Committee. "It means if you miss some of those events, it will be difficult to win the Race to Dubai, so there is an incentive to play in as many Final Series events as possible. The goal for us was to get the top players to play in the Final Series and this will hopefully help do that.” 

 

The European Tour also enhanced its points system for 2014. At the conclusion of the Perth International in late October, prize money on the Race to Dubai will be converted into points (with one euro equaling one point). Each Final Series event will then carry a total points breakdown of 10,000,000, with the winner receiving 1,666,600 points. This new scheme is aimed at emphasizing the importance of the Final Series tournaments by rewarding players for their performances in them. 

 

"It's good to evaluate and make tweaks to any system," said reigning Race to Dubai champion Henrik Stenson. "These changes are for the better and won't cut anyone out if they don't want to play all of the Final Series events.  

 

"It's down to yourself, but if you do play in all of them you are giving yourself an even better chance of winning the Race to Dubai," he added. "It's always nice to see an increase in the Bonus Pool as well, so I think the announcement is a good move all round."