2013 Race to Dubai hits the road again starting in South Africa

Just eleven days after World Number One Rory McIlroy lifted the 2012 Race to Dubai title at Jumeirah Golf Estates, the 2013 edition of The Race to Dubai gets underway at the Royal Durban Country Club in South Africa. The Nelson Mandela Championship presented by ISPS Handa is the first event on a year long golfing odyssey that will see The European Tour International Schedule travel though Africa, Asia, America, Australasia and Europe, before ending back in Dubai some 343 days later for the 2013 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai at Jumeirah Golf Estates from 14-17 November.

Featuring a minimum of 45 tournaments, the 2013 Race to Dubai gets underway with three events in South Africa before the popular Desert Swing tees up with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on 17 January followed by the Commercialbank Qatar Masters and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

“The battle between Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald, the course record 62 by Justin Rose on the final day and Rory’s ultimate triumph in both the DP World Tour Championship and The Race to Dubai was a magnificent end to the 2012 season on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates,” said Nick Tarratt, European Tour International Director, Dubai Office.

“Once the last putt was holed, we were already looking ahead to the 2013 DP World Tour Championship and the start of the fifth edition of The Race to Dubai underlines just how quickly the world of sport turns around.”

McIlroy’s victory in the 2012 Race to Dubai followed the success of Lee Westwood (2009), Martin Kaymer (2010) and Luke Donald (2011) in winning the European money list and the 23 year-old from Northern Ireland will begin the defence of his crown in Abu Dhabi next month.