The 18th-hole grandstand at the Earth course.

European Tour chief executive George O’Grady availed of a pre-round press conference at the Dubai World Championship this morning to announce a new three-year contract with organisers of the tournament.

Under the improved terms of the agreement, prize money at the season-ending invitational will rise next year from its current level of $7.5 million (supplemented, of course, by an identically-weighted bonus fund, distributed to the fifteen players at the summit of the Race to Dubai rankings) to a staggering $8 million.

In return, the European Tour has been forced to make one major concession: the revamped event will now bear the tongue-twisting title of “DP World Tour Championship, Dubai”.

O’Grady sounds pretty chipper:

“The title will change slightly to DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. Prize money for the first year will be $8 million and it is an outstanding three-year commitment from (sponsors) DP World.”

Who says we live in an age of austerity?

Conor Nagle