EUROPEAN TOUR'S RICHEST CHAMPIONSHIP
IS NOT A HONEY POT TO LURE TIGER WOODS
AWAY FROM US TOUR - says O'GRADY

European Tour supremo George O'Grady is stressing - and we have to believe him - that the Dubai World Championship, scheduled to be the Euro Tour's season-ending spectacular from November 19 to 22 in 2009, has not been launched as a honey-pot to lure Tiger Woods away from the US Tour.
The European Tour announced plans earlier today (scroll down for some quotes from the telecast Press Conference) for a season-ending tournament in Dubai from 2009 when the tournament will set two cash records - the highest-ever prize fund of $10,000,000 and a record pay-out of $1.66million to the winner.
(Why the EUROPEAN Tour should be talking in terms of US DOLLARS was not explained. Maybe it was to give Tiger Woods a better idea of how big the honey pot will be!)
"This isn't to get the best players in the world, it's for players who make commitments to the European Tour," said O'Grady.
"If Tiger Woods says he wants to join the European Tour and promises to play a minimum of 11 events and pay his $500 joining fee, then he would qualify.
"But he has his schedule mapped out well in advance. Anyway, it's a bit big-headed for the European Tour to start talking about what to do with Tiger Woods."
O'Grady said, however, that Woods' management company had in the past inquired about European Tour membership but had taken the matter no further.
The Dubai World Championship tournament will be for the top 60 players on a season-long order of merit to be called the Race to Dubai and unless Woods agrees to play the minimum mandatory 11 European Tour events, he will not qualify for the season finale.