Dubai golf money 'absurd'

Leading golfer Ernie Els has described as "absurd" the amount of prize money to be offered for a new European Tour golf event to take place in Dubai.

The tour, being announced in Dubai next week, is expected to have a prize purse of between $8m and $10m, higher than any other competition in the world.

The European No 1 runner-up told The UK's The Telegraph newspaper that he would have to take part. "I'll play - you can't afford not to," he said.

The tournament will be part of the European tour, and the prize money is expected to reverse the player drain moving to compete in the US Tour's $10m winner-takes-all, season-ending FedEx Cup series.

The Dubai Desert Classic is also expected to be moved from its February date to the end of the year in order to attract the world's best players.

Els also said he was in favour of a 'Desert Swing' of events in Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain at the end of the year.

Sweden's Henrik Stenson admitted to The Telegraph that he had not heard of the event but "but being Dubai-based, any tournament out there for me is great."

Stenson is the reigning Dubai Desert Classic champion.

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