The Niggle: Do you find the Race to Dubai boring?

Rory McIlroy won the Race to Dubai this week without playing in any of the Final Series events.

Does that render this week’s DP World Tour Championship a bit pointless?

Billy Horschel came from nowhere to win the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup by finishing the season with two victories – a result deemed unsatisfactory by many seeing as he only “did it” in a couple of events.

A visibly tired McIlroy – with two majors and a WCG under his belt – simply ran out of steam on the home straight.

Marcel Siem could have done something similar to Horschel if he’d followed up his win at the BMW Masters with success at the HSBC-Champions or Turkish Airlines Open then a win in Dubai.

If Siem had taken the Race to Dubai title, would that have been a satisfactory result?

So how can the European Tour keep the season interesting for the spectator while ensuring the right player wins the Order of Merit?

James Savage and Mark Townsend debate the issue.

JS – Don’t get me wrong, Rory McIlroy is clearly deserving of the prize but the fact he was able to win it without picking up a club in the final five or six events makes The Final Series seem a bit pointless.

MT – If I’m honest I don’t think any of these season-ending jamborees capture the public’s imagination. A handful of players get a lot richer in events that few punters can recall a month later.
Currently, after the Majors and WGCs, you barely have to break stride to be seen to be supporting your home Tour" JS – So what’s your suggestion to make it more interesting? Should we just have the majors and not bother with anything else?

MT – I understand the need to make it interesting but people soon lose interest at  manufactured money lists that reward players who save their best for a couple of events. What was so wrong with when the Tour came to a close at Valderrama? 

Monty winning his eight Order of Merits was a genuine piece of consistent brilliance. And he knows better than anyone all anyone really measures performance by are the Majors. 

JS –  I think one problem is the fact people don’t really know (or care) where and when the season starts and finishes. It’s all very dis-jointed and very easy for the spectator to become disengaged. Was the WGC-HSBC Champions last week the first or the last WGC event of the year? I don’t even know. 

Things have changed from Monty’s hay-day as many of the top European players now plot their schedule between the PGA and European Tour. 

What about excluding the majors and the WGCs from the Race to Dubai? Just give the trophy to the player who has won the most money in European Tour only sanctioned events? 

MT – Why penalise McIlroy because he has won two Majors? He would probably win it anyway having won at Wentworth.

I’d like to see the number of events upped to at least 14 so, to be eligible to win the Money List or Race to Dubai or play in The Final Series or whatever they call any of these run of tournaments, you have to make a decent effort to be part of it.

Currently, after the Majors and WGCs, you barely have to break stride to be seen to be supporting your home Tour. 

DO YOU FIND THE RACE TO DUBAI BORING?

WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE TO GIVE IT A MORE EXCITING CLIMAX?

GIVE US YOUR COMMENTS IN THE BOX BELOW

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