Bahrain to debut on European Tour

Bahrain will make its debut on the European Tour by hosting a $2.2 million Volvo Tournament of Champions next year at the Royal Golf Club.

The European Tour’s announcement on Tuesday brings to five the tournaments on the Desert Swing which includes three in the UAE and one in Qatar.

The field for the tournament scheduled to be held in from January 27 to 30 will mostly feature players who have won previously on the European Tour.

It will be a unique competition and for the first time will see European Tour tournament winners compete together with leading amateurs on one day of the tournament.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, chief executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, called the tournament “big news for us” and said it would give the country an economic boost after receiving Volvo’s golf event management president and chief executive Per Ericsson. The EDB and

Volvo are both major players in bringing a new golf tournament on the European Tour to Bahrain.

The Bahrain tournament will be held in the weekend after the Abu Dhabi Golf Championships scheduled from January 20 to 23.

It will be followed by the Qatar Masters in Doha from February 3 to 6 and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club from February 10 to 13.

Dubai will also host the $7.5 million Dubai World Championship and finale of the European Order of Merit rebranded Race to Dubai from November 25 to 28 at Jumeirah Golf Estates. The inaugural Championship and Race to Dubai competition held last year was won by England’s Lee Westwood.

Sweden’s Richard Johnson won the the Scandinavian Masters while the next tournament in the European Tour will be the Irish Open which begins on Thursday.