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From Alistair Tait, Golfweek

TROWLEY BOTTOM, England – The numbers coming out of Dubai today were impressive. A staggering new deal worth $20 million dollars will make European golfers even richer in 2009.

Here’s one number you didn’t hear when George O’Grady announced a new partnership between the European Tour and Leisurecorp, the company developing Dubai’s residential golf community at Jumeirah Golf Estates: Despite all the money poured into Dubai over the years, the United Arab Emirates has yet to produce one bona fide home grown player with a chance of the 2009 jackpot.

Money and Dubai go hand in hand. The Dubai sheiks have been throwing money at golf since the inception of the Desert Classic in 1989. Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Fred Couples, Mark O’Meara, Ernie Els and Tiger Woods, to name a few, have all been lured to Dubai with suitcases full of greenbacks.

Tiger’s asking price is reported to be a whopping $3 million.

Meanwhile, no expense has been spared on the country’s golf courses.

So it came as no surprise that the zeroes O’Grady was talking about ran to seven digits. From 2009 Dubai will stage a tournament worth $10 million, with $1,666,660 going to the winner. A further purse of $10 million will be divided among the top 15 players on the European Order of Merit.

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