RIP Race To Dubai, Enter "The Final Series"

There are plenty of fun tidbits in Alex Leach's excellent story on the European Tour announcing it's 45-event schedule and new playof...err..."The Final Series" of events leading to...a Dubai conclusion.

First off, there will be a clever incentive program to get players to show up for all three "Final Series" events, something that many have advocated for the ResetCup.

Those participating in all three shall also receive a 20% bonus on their RTD points from those particular events, with that tally added to the respective players’ total prior to the DP World Tour Championship.

In the announcement, there was a nice attempted shot at the ResetCup here by George O'Grady, answering those who wondered why Rory McIlroy had wrapped up the Race To Dubai before anyone arrived at the final event, something that would have happened in the FedExCup had algorithms not intervened.

“But, if you think this is the fourth Race to Dubai that we have staged and each one has been won by the then-ranked world number one player. The world’s number one is winning The Race to Dubai and surely that’s the way it should be.

“There’s nothing too much wrong with the idea, but it’s got to be tweaked and we are looking at the bonuses.

Later on in the story, the Euro Tour's COO Keith Waters added this about the new Final Series format. I'm guessing he's not a fan of the ResetCup.

“It’s possible that we come here again in a year’s time and someone has already won the race, but we believe that to be correct.

“That’s what sport is about and we don’t want to contrive the points to such a degree that it all comes down to the last nine holes.”

Oh, but the permutation crunching is so fun!

About the 2012 winner, Rory McIlroy, James Corrigan writes in the Telegraph about his stunning finish to the season:

McIlroy needed something special after Justin Rose had produced something extraordinary – a 10 under par 62 that was not only a course record by two, but also the lowest round of his 14-year European Tour career by two.

At one point Rose had gone from six behind to two in front, but McIlroy didn't just get the better of his head-to-head with world number two Luke Donald, he got the better of Rose too.

When a 12-foot putt went in on the final green for his fifth successive birdie he had shot a third 66 of the week and on 23 under par had won by two for a double worth more than £1.4 million.