In September 2012, Emirates strengthened its partnership with The European Tour by renewing its sponsorship of the golf season’s grand finale – the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai - which will see the likes of Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald contest an $8 million (Dhs 29m) prize fund.
Emirates will be the Official Airline of The European Tour’s showpiece event – to be staged on Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth course from 22-25 November 2012 – for the next three years.
The DP World Tour Championship is the climax of The Race to Dubai, a season-long competition spanning 46 tournaments played in 25 different destinations across the globe, to decide who Europe’s Number One player is.
In the 2011 tournament, history was made as England’s Luke Donald became the first man to win both the US and European money lists in the same year by finishing third at the Earth course. Spaniard Alvaro Quiros won the 2011 DP World Tour Championship title by two shots after a 67 left him at 19 under par.
Emirates also sponsors The Ryder Cup, UBS Hong Kong Open, BMW International Open 2012, Japan Open, WGC-HSBC Champions, Emirates Australian Open Championship, Australian PGA Championship, Austrian Golf Open, Avantha Masters, Ballantine’s Championship, Barclays Singapore Open, Maybank Malaysian Open, Thailand Open, Alstom Open de France, Irish Open, Emirates Airline Invitational and Boeing Classic.