What Is The Rolex Series?

First launched in 2017 by DP World Tour Chief Executive, Keith Pelley, the Rolex Series attracts the biggest and best names in the world that would tend to favour the PGA Tour. Hence why the tournament purses at these events are significantly higher than a normal DP World Tour tournament.

Speaking about the introduction of the series in 2017, Pelley said "the Rolex Series will celebrate the highest quality of golf and the international spirit of the game; values that Rolex and the European Tour strengthen with this announcement. We are tremendously proud to have Rolex as our partner in this exciting new venture and we thank them for their continued support."

This year, the newly rebranded DP World Tour will have five of these prestigious Rolex Series events, with the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic becoming a Rolex Series event for the first time in its history.

The other tournaments that will make up the series are the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Genesis Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Previously, there were eight events on the Tour but, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Open de France, Irish Open and Italian Open were relegated to regular Tour competitions, with the Turkish Airlines Open and Nedbank Golf Challenge being cancelled.

Being staged throughout the season, the Rolex Series events had their tournament purses increased in 2020, from $7 million to $8 million, with the season-ending DP World Tour Championship providing $10 million in prize money. The Rolex Series offers around two-to-three times more than the average DP World Tour purse and, on top of the prize money, they also offer increased order of merit points.

Prize money breaks through $200m barrier for first time. All sole-sanctioned DP World Tour events to have minimum $2m purse. 5 Rolex Series events out of minimum of 47 tournaments. 2022 DP World Tour Championship to have $10m purseNovember 9, 2021