Richard Finch joined exalted company today as the 2009 European Tour teed off with the $5m HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, less than a week after the 2008 campaign finished with the Volvo Masters at Valderrama, writes JOHN DRAKE.
The Yorkshire player finished 52nd in the field of 57 in Spain, but his victories in the New Zealand and Irish Opens qualified him to join the exclusive field of tournament winners in China where world No 2 Phil Mickelson defends the title.
Former
Yorkshire county champion Finch, 31, ended the 2008 season 20th in the money list, having filled eighth place after his Irish triumph, though a return of 937,438 euros is not bad for someone who won his way to the Tour relatively late in life, four years ago.
And with the top 30 guaranteed places in next year's Open Championship, the Hull man will make his second appearance in the event at Turnberry in July.
Finch was disappointed not to gain a top 15 spot in the money list, as that would have carried exemption to the US Open.
But he will have a place in the World Golf Championship event at Doral's Blue Monster Course in Florida.
York-based Simon Dyson's indifferent season ended with him in 55th place on the 2008 money list with 570, 949 euros.
After finishing 26th last year and 21st the season before, the former Sand Moor amateur improved his position by picking up 34,000 euros for 34th spot at Valderrama.
The HSBC event makes for an historic occasion in that it sees the end of the traditional order of merit, now replaced by the Race to Dubai.
That culminates in 12 months' time with the Dubai World Championship, the richest tournament on earth with a prize fund of $10,000,000 plus an equal amount in a bonus pool for the top 15 ranked players at the close of the event, to be held at the Greg Norman-designed Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
That means the mouth-watering prospect of one player earning a staggering $3,666,660 with the last shot of the season that takes in 53 tournaments in 27 destinations with players from 40 countries vying to be the first to face the most lucrative shot in golfing history.
With such huge money now on offer it is no surprise that America's newest star, Anthony Kim, has joined the European tour, the latest of a half-dozen US tour players to do so.
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The full article contains 428 words and appears in EP Leeds First & County newspaper.
