European Tour Makes Changes to Final Series Format after Player Criticism

Following player criticism, the European Tour has announced changes to the season-ending Final Series format and the climax to the Race To Dubai.

Along with a big increase in prize money, the major change made by the Tour is the removal of the need for players to play in two of the three Final Series events in order to be eligible for the bonus pool and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The prize fund goes from $3.75 million to $5 million this season, while the concluding World Tour Championship will include the leading 60 players available rather than just those who finished inside the top 60 in the Race To Dubai standings.

The likes of Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els were critical of the new criteria last season, as the European Tour introduced the Final series to rival the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup that forms the end of their season.

The closing events will remain the same, with the BMW Masters, WGC-HSBC Champions and Turkish Airlines Open being held before the World Tour Championship – but the changes in qualification have been made after discussions with the players and the Tournament Committee of the European Tour.

Keith Waters, Chief Operating Officer and Director of International Policy for The European Tour, said that they had listened to the player when making the changes.

“The inaugural staging of The Final Series was a huge success with the best golfer in the world at the end of last year – Henrik Stenson – eagling the final hole at Jumeirah Golf Estates to win not only the DP World Tour Championship but also The Race to Dubai.

“However, The European Tour always listens to its Membership and we were aware that there was some fine tuning required to the overall structure of The Final Series to make an already excellent product even better. We are confident that the changes we are announcing today will do just that.”