Five new events dot 2010 European schedule

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WENTWORTH, England (AP) -- The European Tour schedule for 2010 will feature 47 tournaments that will contribute to the second Race To Dubai title.

A three-week delay in announcing the schedule had led to speculation the Race to Dubai, with its $30 million prize money, may not be included after Dubai construction giant Nakheel announced it was struggling to refinance debts of $26 billion.

However, European golf's governing body said Monday the second edition of the Dubai World Championship, along with its bonus pool for the top 15 players on the European Money List, would go ahead with the same prize money as 2009.

The schedule has been affected by the global economic downturn.

The European Open -- which for the past two years has been held at the London Club in Kent, England, and sponsored by Nakheel's subsidiary, Leisurecorps -- will not be held next year. Also not included are the Madrid Masters and Indonesian Open.

Dates and sponsorship deals have yet to be finalized for the China Open and World Match-Play Championship, which was held for the first time in Spain at the end of October. Both of those events were sponsored by Swedish car manufacturers Volvo in 2009.

The new schedule does feature five new tournaments. They are the Africa Open at East London, South Africa, from Jan. 7-10; the Avantha Masters at the DLF G&CC, New Delhi, India, from Feb. 11-14; the Hassan II Trophy in Morocco from March 18-21; the Mallorca Open from May 13-16; and the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama, Spain from Oct. 28-31.