EURO TOUR FIGHTS BACK AGAINST DOLLAR DRAIN

By GRAHAM OTWAY 18/11/2007

golf

EUROPEAN Tour chiefs will tomorrow unveil blockbuster plans to counter the mega-dollar lure of the United States.

They have travelled to Dubai, the setting for a new end-of-season tournament in autumn 2008 which will be far more valuable than the US Tour's £10million Fedex Cup series.

And to revamp the image of golf outside the US it is believed they plan to rename their organisation "The World Tour" - to give greater status to existing big-money events in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. They also plan to open an office in Dubai.

Their aim is to slow down the steady drain of top young European players to the US as soon as they climb into the top 50 of the world rankings.

In recent years players like Justin Rose, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson have set up permanent bases in the States. Now the process could be reversed. With the value of the dollar plummeting, massive cash prizes paid in pounds or euros could attract more Americans to travel overseas.

World No.2 Phil Mickelson said last weekend, after winning £400,000 at the Champions Event in Shanghai, that he intends to play more outside the US.

The new Dubai tournament is expected to form part of a second desert swing in 2008 that will contain a major bonus pool that could even attract Tiger Woods. It is also believed the tour is about to distance itself from the three-tournament World Golf Championship Series, which started around the globe in the 1990s but was hijacked by the US Tour two years ago.