DP World Tour climax should move Down Under to avoid Middle East conflict
Melbourne and Sydney should step in to replace Abu Dhabi and Dubai
The United States of America's war of choice has already had a significant impact upon world sport, including cancellation of the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and the move of the Bahrain Grand Prix to Malaysia, plus the likely cancellation of the Grand Prix in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. It has also had an impact at a lower level in golf with the cancellation of a Challenge Tour event in India, and moving two Challenge Tour events in Abu Dhabi from April to the end of September. However, the ongoing conflict, which has impacted the UAE and Saudi Arabia, has cast a big doubt over the staging of the Abu Dhabi Championship and DP World Tour Championship in the UAE in November.
Speaking to the media ahead of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, defending DP World Tour Champion Matt Fitzpatrick said “As things stand right now, I would say I’m not that comfortable,” Fitzpatrick said about playing in the Middle East. “A few things have changed for me. I had a child in August and that changes things a bit more.
“It would feel a little bit weird, given what I’m reading elsewhere. Things can change overnight, I’m sure. I think it seems to be going down that path of things are getting better. I’ve looked on the UK [government] website, I know they changed it from essential travel only to one step better than that.
“I know the tour has been on this for a long time. It’s frustrating the decision hasn’t been made so you can plan. But I understand there’s a lot of moving parts to that and it’s difficult to make these decisions."
“If the tour do go, I’m sure they have had the best advice possible on what that looks like. As things stand, I wouldn’t necessarily be too keen on going. I know there’s been discussions on what Formula One is doing. I’ve heard they might not be going there, so it begs the question, would we, I guess.”
Ewan Murray, of the Guardian, is reporting that contingency plans have included Turkiye, Spain and Portugal, but none of those potential host countries have events coming up on the DP World Tour, so the necessary infrastructure including grandstands, hospitality, media centre would not be in place. The build-out for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship began in early August for a tournament which will take place in the first week of October, so it would seem logical for the DP World Tour to look for alternative venues which could already be hosting other tournaments in the near future.
The 2027 DP World Tour season begins with the BMW Australian PGA Championship, at the Lakes Golf Club in Sydney, followed by the Capital.com Australian Open, at Kingston Heath, in Melbourne, and with both these tournaments taking place in late November and early December, the build-out will be starting soon and they could make for perfect hosts of the season climax.
DP World operate the Ports of both Sydney and Melbourne, and moving both events from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to these iconic Australian cities would make commercial sense for DP World too. Week one could be played at Kingston Heath, with the DP World Tour Championship heading to the Lakes, and the stunning visuals of Sydney harbour could enhance the season finale even further.
I am sure the DP World Tour's partners would help to make this vision possible, with Emirates as the official airline having sponsored the Emirates Australian Open for several years in the past, and other sporting events down under, including the Australian Open Tennis, and the Melbourne Cup. Staging both events in a single country must surely be attractive to the DP World Tour, and for the players, with the likes of Rory McIlroy also scheduled to play the Australian Open in the first week of December.
Will it happen? It is unknown and the uncertainty of where these two important tournaments will be played is not being helped by the absence of any public comment by the leadership of the tour. I suppose all options are on the table, including the complete cancellation of both events, which would mean the season concludes in Korea at the Genesis Championship.
SHANK, by Matt Hooper
Matt Hooper is an associate member of the Sports Journalists Association
Quotes from Matt Fitzpatrick (The Guardian)
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