The European Tour will offer $150,000 in player earnings and $1,500 to other players, which will increase prize money and return to Australia and parts of Asia as part of a new program announced Thursday.
The tour said its prize money will be $144.2 million, excluding the four majors and the World Golf Championship in Texas.
The four Rolex Series events — Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Scottish Open and BMW PGA Championship — received $1 million increases to $9 million, while the season-ending DP World Tour Championship has a $10 million purse.
The tour also said a $6 million bonus pool will be distributed to the top eight players in the DP World Tour standings at the end of the year.
The changes reflect Europe’s alliance with the PGA Tour and tours in South Africa and Australia to launch a new tournament with Saudi funding from LIV Golf.
An “Income Verification Program” that offers $150,000 to full members who count against competitive earnings is essential. It’s the same as the PGA Tour announced this season, with a few changes.
The US Tour is offering $500,000 up front to rookies and players who earn their card from the Korn Ferry Tour. If everyone does not earn $500,000 at the time, they will be paid the difference.
The European Tour is offering $20,000 early in the summer to rookies, Challenge Tour graduates and eligible school graduates. If they don’t make $150,000 by the end of the season, everyone gets the difference.
“For us to be able to offer our members prize money and improved income opportunities is huge, especially at a time when global economies are still feeling the impact of the pandemic and the new challenge of inflation is putting pressure on all aspects of the business,” said Keith Pelley, CEO of the European Tour.
He said the total prize fund is more than $50 million two years ago.
The new season kicks off November 24-27 — a week after the current season ends — with consecutive weeks of mutually-agreed events in South Africa and Australia. The Australian PGA Championship is the same week as the Joburg Open and the Australian Open is the same week as the South African Open.
While the Australian Open was scheduled in Europe from 2015 to 2019, the event was not held since 2019, the first time the Australian Open was held in Europe, due to the pandemic.
New to the European Tour — officially the DP World Tour thanks to its umbrella sponsorship — are tournaments in Singapore, Japan, Thailand and Korea.
This will make 39 tournaments in 26 countries on five continents.
The new year kicks off with the Hero Cup, modeled after the previous Save Cup, giving European Tour members a taste of the Ryder Cup format.
The Italian Open will be May 4-7, as it hosts the Ryder Cup at the end of September outside Rome at Marco Simons. The $20 million Wells Fargo Championship is the same week on the PGA Tour, making it difficult for Americans — Europeans who have made America — to play.
Missing from the schedule is the Spanish stop at Valderrama, which could be used by LIV Golf next year.
The European Tour also has a three-week break after the British Open, which Pelli said is needed by the players.
Ryder Cup qualifying concludes on September 3 at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland. After that, players have the Irish Open, the BMW PGA Championship, the French Open and then the Ryder Cup.
