Players await Dubai prize money

It is expected to be confirmed that the £12million prize money in the inaugural Dubai World Championship will be cut.

It was hailed at its launch as golf's richest-ever event but now the prize money is expected to be cut by as much as a quarter.

European Tour chief executive George O'Grady is to fly to the Middle East for talks with the sponsors, and said today: "Nothing is decided and they will honour their contract with us if we so wish.

"But we will take a view on what's appropriate and in our long-term interest we may consider offering to drop the purse.

"We can't be immune from what is happening in the region. People are not getting paid in Dubai and we may have to share the pain."

The tournament on November 19-22 is currently listed as having a £6million purse, with the same amount on offer from an end-of-season bonus pool to the top 15 finishers in the "Race To Dubai" money list.

As for the future of what was initially a five-year deal with Dubai-based property developers Leisurecorp - they also own last month's Open venue Turnberry - that will be part of O'Grady's discussions.

Two weeks ago when news of the possible prize money reduction leaked out, Lee Westwood's reaction was: "Not disappointed, not surprised.

"I think it's a reality check for everybody that in times like this when there's a credit crunch that nobody is immune.

"I heard before it all came out in the press that it was going from 10 million dollars down to 7 1/2 million. That's still a massive prize when you think about it and I think we're lucky to be playing for that kind of money.

"I can fully understand - and I'm pretty supportive in a way - that they're still hanging in there."