THE EUROPEAN Tour’s end-of-season bonus pool is being cut in half from €5.8 million to €2.9 million, with 10 rather than 15 players being given an extra reward for their year’s work.
Luke Donald won €1.2 million for topping the 2011 money list last month, but that comes down to €782,000 this season, while the bonus for coming 10th is reduced from €230,000 to €78,000.
The payments will be made at the end of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai from November 22nd to 25th, where the prize fund has been increased to €6.2 million from €5.7 million and the winner’s cheque goes up from €960,000 to €1.1 million.
This revision of the bonus pool follows the announcement by the European Tour of a three-year agreement to extend The Race to Dubai through to the end of 2014.
The 2012 Race to Dubai will conclude with the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai, UAE, on November 22nd-25th.
Donald earned a record €5,323,400 by winning, in 2011, the third edition of The Race to Dubai, following in the footsteps of Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer.
The Race to Dubai winner receives The Harry Vardon Trophy, first awarded in 1937, and a seven-year European Tour Card exemption in addition to category-one membership of the European Tour similar to the winners of golf’s four Major championships. The bonus pool counts as official money on the final Race to Dubai standings.
2012 Race to Dubai bonus pool
1st €782,000
2nd €508,050
3rd €391,000
4th €293,000
5th €254,000
6th €213,000
7th €176,000
8th €137,000
9th €98,000
10th €78,000
