The European Tour today announces its 2021 schedule which will feature a minimum of 42 tournaments in 24 countries, as golf’s global Tour resumes a full international program.
Running from January to November, the schedule also features 18 returning tournaments which were either postponed or cancelled in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The 2021 season is headlined by a refined Rolex Series which now features the European Tour’s four premium events spread across key points in the global golfing calendar, each one enhanced by a prize fund increase, elevated Race to Dubai points and enriched media, content and broadcast coverage.
Launched in 2017, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Rolex’s enduring partnership with the European Tour, the Rolex Series highlights the Swiss watch manufacturer’s ongoing commitment to the sport at the highest level.
The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (January 21-24), the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open (July 8-11) and the BMW PGA Championship (September 9-12) will each now have a prize fund of US$ 8million – an increase of $1million. They will also all have 8,000 Race to Dubai points available, the same as on offer at the four World Golf Championship events.
There will also be new opportunities for all players to qualify for both the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship with three places now available from respective mini orders of merit based on a series of European Tour events leading up to them. Full details of these will be announced in due course.
The prize fund for the fourth and final Rolex Series event of the season – the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai – also increases by US$ 1million to US$ 9million. The European Tour season-ending finale will also continue to feature the largest winner’s cheque in the world of golf - US$ 3 million – with, additionally, 12,000 Race to Dubai points available, some 2,000 points above those on offer at the four Major Championships.
While not in a position to announce the prize funds for all 2021 tournaments at this stage, some key points are:
▪ Prize funds for all four UK Swing events in July / August will be increased
▪ The second event of the UK Swing (July 29-Aug 1) – whose details will be announced early next year – will be co-sanctioned with the LET/LPGA
▪ The UK Swing will have a Bonus Pool for the players in addition to a charity element
▪ Prize funds for the new tournaments in Tenerife and Gran Canaria in April will each be €1.5 million. The Portugal Masters, which follows these two events, will also increase to €1.5 million
▪ Prize fund for the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett will rise to €2 million from €1.25 million
▪ Prize funds for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the Italian Open will each rise to €3 million, from €1.25 million and €1 million respectively
In addition to increased prize fund levels, the 2021 European Tour season also offers considerable playing opportunities across the 11 months with a schedule intended to reduce travelling wherever possible.
Illustrating that point, in addition to the traditional group of tournaments in the Middle East at the start of the year, the schedule also includes the return of the Iberian Swing in April and the UK Swing in July and August, which follows on from the run of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and The Open Championship. Also next to each other on the schedule are the Open de España and the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters in Spain in the first two weeks of October followed by the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco the following week.
Bryan Angus edit (europeantour.com)
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