TOUR NEWS:A NEW era dawns? For sure, that's how it would appear as, barely a matter of days after the finish of the old season, the European Tour - despite the downturn in the world economy - embarks on a journey laden with more greenbacks than any time in its history.
This week's HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai marks the start of the "2009" campaign, that incorporates the Race to Dubai ultimately leading to the Dubai World Championship next November which replaces the now defunct Volvo Masters as the season's finale.
And, for good measure, a tour which once upon a time saw many of its leading players being lured to the US is now experiencing the flipside of the coin. Already, two of the game's brightest new stars, Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas, have confirmed they are taking up membership of the European Tour and, while Phil Mickelson continues to sit on the fence, there's a strong expectation that he, too, will follow suit.
Australian Robert Allenby has also rejoined the European Tour, and his compatriot, Geoff Ogilvy - in the field this week - is also set to take up his membership again.
It's indicative of the direction that the European Tour is headed - away from its home base - that the 2009 season tees off in China and ends up in 12 months' time in Dubai, but the fact of the matter is that this expansive movement offers the tour a lifeline that makes it the envy of many other sporting organisations and the increased prize money on offer on the European circuit (combined with the shortened US Tour, with many players putting away their clubs after the FedEx Cup) has added to its appeal.
As Mickelson admitted in a tele-conference last week: "The US golf industry has been stagnant for quite some time, so all of our growth had been occurring on a global basis. As a professional golfer we have to adapt to that, and that means playing more internationally because that's where the opportunities are and that's where they'll continue to grow."
Mickelson is defending his title in Shanghai this week - and is also entered for next week's Barclays Singapore Open, which is not part of the European Tour (yet!) - but has yet to commit to taking up European Tour membership. "It is something I am considering," said Mickelson.
To do so, he would have to play a minimum of 12 European Tour events (which would also take in the four majors and the three WGCs), two of them in Europe.
As Ryder Cup player Paul Casey put it, in explaining the added attraction of playing on the European Tour with the advent of the Race to Dubai: "I think this could be a new era. As soon as you finish the US PGA in August there is a shift in focus. For guys in the US it's the FedEx Cup, for guys over here it is going to be towards the Race to Dubai and you can't blame them. I'm sure part of it is about the money but part of it is about winning."
The limited-field of 77 players in the HSBC, where there is no cut, includes five Irishmen - Pádraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke, Damien McGrane and Peter Lawrie - who all earned their places with wins on the 2008 circuit. Harrington, who finished runner-up to Sweden's Robert Karlsson in the 2008 Order of Merit, has yet to contend in the HSBC over the Sheshan course but claimed, "you've got six of the top eight golfers in the world here in a very high-class field . . . throw in the fact that Phil is defending his first big title outside the States and Trevor (Immelman) is going as the reigning Masters champion and you can see that it will be a tough tournament to win. I've had a sixth and a fifth in the last two years, so I'm getting closer."
For Harrington, it will be the only tournament that counts to the Race to Dubai that he will play this side of Christmas as he finishes his season's work in the Singapore Open (on the Asian Tour) next week, before taking a break that won't see him reappear on the circuit until Abu Dhabi in January.
Clarke, though, has a fairly busy end-of-season schedule that sees him play a further four tournaments in his quest to break into the world's top-50 by the end of December and, so, guarantee a place in all four of next season's majors. Clarke is currently ranked 62nd and plans on playing this week's event in Shanghai as well as the Singapore Open and then the Australian Open and the South African Open next month.
McDowell, meanwhile, who finished a career-best fifth on the 2008 Order of Merit is keen to continue his good form in Shanghai. He has already won in the Far East this year, in the inaugural Ballantines championship in Korea.
"This is our answer to the FedEx Cup. There's a massive emphasis on getting into the top-60 (to qualify for the Race to Dubai). Everyone is excited about how it will shape the Tour. These are exciting times."
