Dubai is reported to be lining up a bid to host the world's richest golf tournament. The $20m championship will be the season finale of the 2009 European Tour, and will comfortably better the purse of any of the four majors. An announcement is expected on Nov 19.
As ever, the figures are ridiculous but Dubai might have got its sums right. The city wants to sell itself as the ultimate golfing destination (and flog some of those course-side villas) and, good as the Desert Classic is, it's no better than above-average. The city isn't interested in being an also-ran; it wants the best. If paying $20m gets it to the top-table, so be it.
The downside is money will only get you so far. You spend big this year, there could be someone else spending bigger next (Shanghai?). The Dubai World Cup, the world's richest horse race, is not considered the world's best horse race.
For that to happen, and for Dubai's $20m golf, the city must deliver quality. And deliver it continuously. It wouldn't hurt to create some tradition. At the moment the only tradition appears to be 'spend lots of money'.
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