From Thursday to Sunday, the 2020/2021 season of the European Tour will come to an end with the final tournament of the fifty best of the season, the DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course of the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.

Even more: It also marks the end of the European Tour, but more on that later.

Because for the first time in the history of the Race to Dubai an American could collect this money list and three million dollars from the bonus pool of eight million.

This Thursday, Collin Morikawa and his compatriot Billy Horschel are the two leaders in this ranking as the last duo to go to the first round, although both play almost exclusively on the American PGA Tour. 23-year-old Morikawa made it to the top by winning the British Open and a World Golf Championship (WGC) tournament that year.

Both majors and WGC events count for the season ratings, the American FedExCup and the Race to Dubai.

The 34-year-old Horschel also triumphed in a WGC tournament and in September at the flagship tournament of the European Tour, the BMW PGA Championship in Wentworth.

The chances of the two have increased in the last few days.

Because the world number one and US Open champion Jon Rahm, who was third in the Race to Dubai, canceled a few days before the start, a tough blow for the European Tour.

A new chapter begins

After all, some Europeans also have the chance to succeed the Englishman Lee Westwood: his compatriots Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick and Paul Casey as well as the Australian Min Woo Lee.

But all four would have to win the season finale, which is endowed with nine million dollars, and collect the prize money of two million dollars.

On the other hand, Morikawa could take last place and still win the Race to Dubai, provided that none of the four named would win the tournament and Horschel would do worse than eighth place.

Two Germans made it into the season finale, Martin Kaymer and Max Kieffer from Düsseldorf.

But for the two Rhinelander it was a success to qualify for the final tournament thanks to ranks 47 and 49.

When the tournament ends on Sunday, a new chapter will begin in the history of the European Tour, founded in 1972. Because it is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its founding with a new name. When the 2021/2022 season begins with three tournaments in South Africa at the end of November, it will be called the DP World Tour. Keith Pelley, the Canadian CEO of the European Tour, managed to win the logistics company DP World from Dubai as title sponsor for ten years, a deal that is said to bring in seventy million dollars for the European tournament series, which has been ailing from the pandemic.

This will increase the minimum prize money for all tournaments - a total of 23 in Europe and 24 in the rest of the world - to two million dollars.

There is also still the lucrative Rolex Series with five tournaments, each offering eight million dollars in prize money per tournament.

The European Tour, which had to lay off seventy employees during the pandemic, also managed to secure the support of the PGA Tour.

McIlroy: New tournaments just "money making"

The world's most lucrative tour bought fifteen percent of European Tour Productions for a sum of one hundred million dollars - an amount that is paid in annual installments. The two largest series also announced a strategic alliance. The Scottish Open as well as the Barracuda and Barbasol Championship count for the first time for both season ratings, the American FedExCup and the Race to Dubai.

That the PGA Tour and the new DP World Tour as well as the South African Sunshine Tour work more closely also seems to be urgently needed, because a new competitor has emerged with LIV Golf Investment, which is financed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

The company, led by former Australian world number one Greg Norman, announced that it will host ten tournaments on the Asian Tour next year with a total of 200 million dollars in prize money.

Rory McIlroy, who is the biggest move number in the DP World Tour Championship, has once again publicly distanced himself from these new tournaments in Dubai.

For the Northern Irishman it is not about golf, but simply about "money grab" (greed).