Tiger Woods to play in new $7 million Turkish Airlines Open

BELEK - Reuters

Fourteen-time major winner Tiger Woods will compete at the European Tour in Turkey’s Antalya. AFP photo

World number one Tiger Woods is to compete in the inaugural Turkish Airlines Open in Antalya in November, the European Tour said yesterday.

The $7 million event at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal course in Belek will form part of the new Final Series on the Race to Dubai, Europe’s lucrative end-of-season equivalent of the U.S. Tour’s FedExCup competition. Fourteen-time major winner Woods also featured in last year’s unofficial World Golf Final in Turkey played at the nearby Antalya Golf Club.

That invitational eight-man tournament was won by Justin Rose who claimed a first prize of $1.5 million after he defeated fellow Briton Lee Westwood by one stroke in the final.

“I had a great time during my first visit to Turkey,” Woods said in a news release. “The fans who came to watch made it a really special event and I’m looking forward to playing there once again.”

The Turkish Open is to be held from Nov. 7-10 and will have a 78-strong field The European Tour’s inaugural Final Series also comprises two events in Shanghai, the $7 million BMW Masters from Oct. 24-27 and the $8.5 million WGC-Champions Tournament from Oct. 31-Nov 3. The series offers a combined prize fund of $30.5 million and ends with the $8 million DP World Tour Championship in Dubai from Nov. 14-17. 

“Last year’s eight-man event, won by Rose at the nearby Antalya Golf Club, provided a taste of the world-class golf to come in Turkey, and the new Turkish Airlines Open now becomes a fully-sanctioned European Tour event,” the Tour said in a statement.