Tour raking it in with £100m dream deal

Announcing a partnership with Dubai-based Jumeirah Golf Estates that will galvanise the European game's finances to the tune of £100million over the next five years, O'Grady called it the most significant development on this side of the Atlantic for 20 years.

Alongside that headline-making figure is an option that would yield a further £150m for a second five-year deal. If Europe's top players have been looking to America recently and feeling left behind by the growing discrepancy in prize money, that is clearly about to be corrected. Game on, as they say.

The crown jewel of this landmark agreement is a new money-laden tournament beginning in 2009 where £10m, would you believe, will be doled out on one weekend.

Instead of the tired old Volvo Masters the season will now end with the Dubai World Championship, complete with a £5m kitty.

Out goes the Order of Merit, long past its sell-by date, to be replaced by the Race to Dubai, a season-long competition that will see the leading 60 players qualify for the final showdown. Those who go on to finish the race in the top 15 will share a further £5m bonus pool, with £1m for the top man.

In other words, anyone who wins the Dubai World Championship to complete the season-long race in first position will walk away with £1.8m. Not a bad enticement to play less in America and more in Europe, is it?

Indeed, it might even be sufficient to bring about a reverse brain-drain, if you like, and persuade Tiger Woods to become a European Tour member. To be eligible for all this loot he would have to play in 11 European Tour-sanctioned events and this year he has played in nine. The most he has ever played in is 10.

O'Grady is adamant that the number will not be lowered for Tiger's benefit — 'In fact, there is a players' meeting in Abu Dhabi next January that might see the number increased,' he said.

But Woods is a near-annual visitor to the Dubai Desert Classic each February and is being paid a reported £50m to build his first course here.

It seems inconceivable that someone could put up so much money for a tournament and not have Tiger playing. But Jumeirah's chief executive David Spencer seems remarkably sanguine, at least publicly, about the possibility.

'We went into this with our eyes open,' he said. 'We know what players' schedules are like and that some years not everyone will turn up. But we're trying to create an event that is bigger than any one individual.'

When it comes to Jumeirah's commitment to European golf, this eye-catching event offering £50m over five years is literally only the half of it.

In O'Grady's words, 'many millions' have been set aside to support Europe's smaller events and boost prize funds. Mirroring the International Cricket Council's move here, as Dubai continues its relentless push to be seen as a sporting Mecca, a new international tour headquarters will be built.

'Many of our members already have homes in Dubai to take advantage of the winter sun and I am sure that will now increase,' said O'Grady.

'Our new home will not replace the one we have at Wentworth but it will offer all the practice facilities anyone could possibly want.' O'Grady admitted the driving force for this deal is the increasing amount that European golfers have been playing in America.

'We sat down 18 months ago and worked out what we were doing right and where we could improve in order to compete,' he said.

'We're clearly very strong in the middle of the year, but this will help us move on. I liken this deal to the one we made with Volvo 20 years ago, which enabled us to improve the structure of the tour. Now we can move to another new level.'

He can say that again. Just 20 years ago that deal with Volvo was worth £5m a year. This one is worth £20m. Truly, this is the Golden Age for the top professional golfer.