Scottish Open in huge European Tour boost

• Scottish Open included in new European Tour Rolex Series
• The seven-event Rolex Series replaces the current Final Series
• The tournament’s prize fund has risen from £3.25m to £5.6m

The general manager of 2017 Scottish Open host venue Dundonald Links has described the tournament’s inclusion in the new European Tour Rolex Series as ‘massive’.

Replacing the current Final Series, the new Rolex Series will feature a minimum of seven tournaments in seven locations across the world, all offering minimum prize funds of $7m, with the DP World Tour Championship having a prize fund of $8m.

“The Scottish Open it’s levering itself nicely to become a premier worldwide event” – Bill Donald

It means the prize fund for the Scottish Open – won this year by Alex Noren (below) – has had a significant hike from £3.25m to £5.6m, which makes Dundonald Links general manager Bill Donald believe the event is well on its way to becoming a premier stop in world golf.

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“It’s massive for the game of golf in Europe and, in particular, us here in Scotland,” he told bunkered.co.uk. “We’re representing the Home of Golf and we’re very much looking forward to the occasion and I think this move shows the serious intent of what I’d say is a new European Tour.

“The Scottish Open it’s levering itself nicely to become a premier worldwide event, so it’s very exciting times.

“When Royal Troon held The Open, we had a number of players’ management teams coming to have a look at Dundonald (below) which was very exciting but there’s nothing definite yet. However, everyone knows that the statistics show that if you play in the Scottish Open, your chances of winning The Open are much improved.”

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The 2017 series will begin in May at the BMW PGA Championship and will be followed by the Irish Open, which falls a week before the Scottish Open in a new place on the European Tour schedule.

The fourth tournament will be the Italian Open, while the final three Rolex Series events will comprise the Turkish Airlines Open, Nedbank Golf Challenge and DP World Tour Championship.

“This further positions the Scottish Open as one of the jewels in the crown of the world’s golfing calendar” – Martin Gilbert

Martin Gilbert, chief executive of Aberdeen Asset Management, added: “It has always been our ambition, together with the European Tour and VisitScotland, to continue to grow this great tournament into one of the biggest in the world.

“To be part of the newly formed Rolex Series, coupled with the fact the tournament became the first regular European Tour event to be shown live on NBC, further positions the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open as one of the jewels in the crown of the world’s golfing calendar.”

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Scottish Open in European Tour boost

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