European Tour lays out its welcome mat

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Phil Mickelson is defending his title this week at the HSBC Champions amid speculation that he will soon enlist for the Race to Dubai.

The "Welcome to the European Tour" mat is out and Sergio Garcia and George O'Grady are only too happy to push the door open.

When Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas decided to join the European Tour, the two young stars approached Garcia for advice and direction.

"They asked me a couple of things and I told them how the tour is," Garcia told reporters at the Volvo Masters. "Obviously, The Race to Dubai is a big asset, too."

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Kim and Villegas liked what they heard and plunked down their $3,200 fee to join. They are competing this week as members of the European Tour in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, the kick-off event for the 2009 season.

"Beautiful," Garcia said. "Any time you can get players the caliber of Camilo and Anthony into the tour, it's great. It's an asset and it's good for golf. We will welcome them with open arms and hopefully they can enjoy it as much as we do."

The allure of the European Tour has been ratcheted up with the advent of the $10 million Race to Dubai for the top 60 players, who will also play for an additional $10 million bonus pool. The winner gets $2 million and the next 14 golfers split the remaining $8 million in bonuses. It is Europe's version of the PGA TOUR's FedExCup season, and O'Grady, chief executive of the European Tour, is promising more enticements.

It only makes sense for the European Tour to come up with something that resembles the FedExCup, just as it makes sense for the golfers to go for it. But O'Grady doesn't expect a rush of Americans, at least not right away.

"People want to see the first year and how it goes," O'Grady said in Valderrama last week. "We said before, we will make it as attractive as we can. I don't think there's too much we have to apologize for.

"There are other things down the line which are going to make us even more attractive in the coming months."

The Race to Dubai is an irresistible pot of gold but Garcia attaches another element to its significance in an ever-expanding global game: The competition.

"I think it's not only (the money)," the Spaniard said. "Some of the tournaments we play in the Middle East early in the year are bigger tournaments than the ones they play in the U.S. The World Ranking points, they are better. They might not have as much money as they have in the tournaments in the U.S., but you get good players there, so World Ranking points increase and things like that.

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Anthony Kim, ranked eighth in the world, is also playing in China this week.

"So at the end of the day, that's what the big players do it for. Where are the best players? You go wherever that may take you."

The Race to Dubai is the successor to the European Tour's Order of Merit, or money list. Under any name, it represents season-long excellence.

Villegas said in Shanghai Wednesday that his success in this year's FedExCup provided the key for him to join the European Tour.

"I've always wanted to play world tours but just had to put myself in a good position in the world rankings so I can try to work both schedules as easy as I can," said Villegas, who won the final two of four FedExCup events and was runner-up to Vijay Singh, a finish worth a $3 million bonus for the Colombian.

"Obviously, (The Race) is going to catch a lot of guys' attention ... It would be nice to see more guys from the U.S. come and play since golf is a worldwide sport. It's growing big-time all over the world and we have to support that."

The higher a player's ranking the more flexibility he has in arranging a playing schedule. The best players are exempt into the majors and other big events. They have the wherewithal to go where they please, when they please. Villegas is ranked No. 7 in the world. Kim is No. 8.

There's more, of course. Dubai's wealth and burgeoning presence as a commercial world center for the 21st Century fit perfectly with golf' expansion as a global game and its participants as international figures.

Phil Mickelson is No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is defending his title this week at the HSBC Champions amid speculation that he will soon enlist for the Race to Dubai.

The left-hander has plenty of money and, until his foray into Shanghai last year, had been protective of his time off. He still is. But his role as spokesperson expands far beyond the borders of America. His commercial responsibilities to the companies he represents are another spoke in what may well drive more golfers to the European Tour for the Race to Dubai.

In Shanghai earlier this week, Mickelson affirmed that side of the equation to reporters.

"I'm keen to take advantage of all the global opportunities," said Mickelson, who endorses Callaway Golf, Barclays bank, Exxon/Mobile and KPMG, which provides professional services in 159 countries.

"Those four companies have a global footprint. Their biggest areas of growth are not in the United States. They're international. ... I want to take advantage of the global opportunities that are out there for golf. It seems as though wealth is being created on an international basis."

A member of the European Tour must play 12 events, and six of those are in the United States. Included in the dozen are the four majors and three World Golf Championship events, leaving five more to fulfill the requirement. With a longer season -- the European Tour's 2009 campaign began this week -- those who want to be a part of it shouldn't have a problem finding room on their playing schedule for five more events, two of which must be in Europe.

The Race to Dubai energizes the European Tour. It gives it something with a global perspective to focus on whereas the Order of Merit was always very Euro-specific. The transition from Order of Merit to The Race to Dubai already is in full-flight.

"This Race to Dubai is going to bring some different things to the (European) tour," Garcia said Wednesday. "Obviously guys are at least trying to join the tour to see if they can get 12 events so I know we are looking forward to keep making the tour stronger and get us as close to the PGA Tour as possible. I think it's definitely going in the right direction and it's just a matter of keep working hard at it."

Vartan Kupelian is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.