The upcoming DP World Tour Championship not only marks the end of this year’s European Tour season, but also the end of the European Tour as we know it. Following a ground breaking deal, the European Tour will now become the DP World Tour and it looks set to herald a new era for golf outside of the USA. In truth, the European Tour has been a World tour in all but name for several seasons as the tour regularly travels to countries far outside the reaches of the European continent. 

Since the Pandemic arrived on an unsuspecting world, the European Tour has endured something of a struggle, with lower prize funds and lower quality venues being offered up to the players. The arrival of the new DP World Tour however, changes everything and the future suddenly looks exceedingly bright. 

The Joburg Open in South Africa kicks off the new tour later this month and from this point onwards, players will be competing for much improved purses with a minimum of $2 million installed at solely sanctioned tournaments and a season long prize fund of $200 million. There will be 47 tournaments in all, and 27 different countries will be visited throughout the course of the season. The higher purse Rolex events are being expanded to five events and there will also be three events co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour with the season finale will now offer a staggering $10 million purse.

Perhaps one of the most disappointing aspects that we have seen over the past couple of decades is watching our biggest and brightest stars emigrate to America, once they had established themselves as leading players in the game. Whilst the introduction of the DP World Tour won't stop this from happening completely, I believe it will have some effect, hopefully resulting in more top players competing on a weekly basis outside of the PGA Tour. 

It will be interesting to see how the new tour develops over the next few years, but it certainly looks as though professional golf outside of the USA is getting the shot in the arm it so desperately needed.