The prize fund for next season’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Dundonald Links is to soar to £5.6 million after the domestic showpiece was included in the European Tour’s new Rolex Series.
The Scottish Open, which was set to have a purse of £3.5 million in 2017, is one of seven events to be included in the lucrative new programme of events which will start with the flagship BMW PGA Championship in May and continue with the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Portstewart in July before the Scottish Open, which retains its place the week before the Open itself, is staged straight after.
The fourth tournament will be the Italian Open in October before the Series concludes with three events in a row - the Turkish Airlines Open, the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the DP World Tour Championship. Those last three events formed the Final Series this season but it is being scrapped. The first five events on the series will all boast purses of £5.6 million with the Nedbank Challenge having a pot of £6 million and the season-ending Tour Championship having a fund of some £6.5 million.
"I do believe it's a game-changer for us ," said the European Tour's chief executive, Keith Pelley, of the new series."I think this is the natural next step for us. This is in the infancy stages. This will evolve. This will get larger and larger, but I'm excited that we're launching it in 2017."
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