The race they all want to win

Sergio Garcia believes the Race to Dubai will help the European Tour to stand alongside its American equivalent.

Spain's Sergio Garcia plays much of his golf in the US but he is among most of the world's top players who are very excited about the forthcoming Race to Dubai.

TURNBERRY // Sergio Garcia believes that the newly launched Race to Dubai will help the European Tour to stand alongside its American equivalent in terms of status in the next few years. The added riches that the Race guarantees to those who compete in it are already proving attractive to the top American golfers, including the world No 2 Phil Mickelson who has hinted that he may seek to play in enough European events to qualify for a shot at the end-of-season Dubai World Championship which offers a total of US$10million (Dh36.7m) prize money, of which $2million goes to the winner. Garcia, ranked fifth in the world, currently plays much of his golf in the US but the young Spaniard is planning to return to Europe far more often in future years, so attractive has that Tour become on the back of its affiliation with Leisurecorp, a golfing subsidiary company of Dubai World. He knows he has to play in a minimum of 12 European tournaments from now on after a recent vote by his fellow professionals to change the eligibility rules for the Race and insisted "that will be no problem". Garcia is co-designing one of four new courses being constructed by Leisurecorp at its Jumeirah Golf Estates complex in Dubai and he was a special guest of the company when they officially launched the Race to Dubai at their recently acquired United Kingdom base of Turnberry, venue for next year's British Open Championship. "We are all thrilled about the Race," said Garcia, who arrived at the Scottish course by helicopter and greeted all of the media personnel at the halfway stage of their pre-Open reconnaissance mission to Turnberry before hitting a ball off the 10th tee with all of the amateur players in attendance. "Everybody I have talked to is looking forward to playing in the Race and I have spoken to several guys in America who have it in their minds. I am sure we will be seeing some familiar faces from the PGA Tour. The Race is bound to bring more of the world's top players to Europe." That is likely to mean stronger fields from now on for the "Desert Swing" in January which features events in Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai. Tiger Woods, the world No 1 who is out of action recovering from knee surgery, already has an annual arrangement to play in the Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club - an event he has won twice. Garcia expressed his thanks for the emergence of Leisurecorp as cash-rich backers of a sport that has been heavily reliant in recent years from sponsorship from banking companies around the world. He is aware of the uncertainty of the future of several well established tournaments on each side of the Atlantic in the light of the global economic crisis. The young Spaniard declared: "A year or so ago, most Americans had no idea where Dubai was, but they all know now and that is down to the work done by Leisurecorp. We are all grateful for that." Garcia was impressed with his first visit to Turnberry since playing in the British Amateur Championship there a decade ago and he feels that Leisurecorp will make the most of their £55million purchase by trying to bring stage more tournaments on the famous links course. Moves are already being made to make it the permanent venue for the European Open which in the past has been a moveable feast. David Spencer, the chief executive of the golfing arm of Leisurecorp described Turnberry, which will be closed down for extensive refurbishment between November and June, as "an underused asset". "It [Turnberry] would be the ideal place for me to win my first major championship," added Garcia. "I hope the course suits me when I come back next July. If I could choose to win just one major in my career it would be the Open. "I love the way it is set up and how you have to use your imagination to get round the links courses. I also love the crowds at Open championships. They are so knowledgeable and I'm sure they will flock to Turnberry in large numbers." Garcia also spoke about his moves into golf course design. He stressed that his priorities at 28 were making further advances in his quest to be the world's best players but is enjoying the diversion into an industry which has proved beneficial to many of his famous predecessors on tour. "It is another of the big opportunities I have been given in my life thanks to Leisurecorp," he said. Working alongside people like Greg Norman Vijay Singh and Pete Dye [the other designers of the four Jumeirah courses] is a great experience for me and something that I can capitalise on in later life." [e-mail]