Success in Race to Dubai in 2012 would fetch Luke Donald Dh2m less

But Dubai World Championship winner's cheque will go up from Dh4.5m to Dh4.9m.

Luke Donald was last year's most successful golfer.

Luke Donald will be almost Dh2 million worse off this year if he successfully defends his Race to Dubai title.

The world No 1 took home a cheque for US$1.5m (Dh5.5m) for topping the European money list after the season-ending Dubai World Championship last month.

But the Race winner's earnings is being trimmed to $1m this year while the bonus pool is being cut in half from $7.5m to $3.75, with 10 rather than 15 players being given an extra reward for their year's work.

However, if Alvaro Quiros retains the championship crown he claimed in December he will be considerably better off.

The prize fund for the tournament, which from this season be known as the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, will increase to $8m from $7.5m while the winner's cheque will go up from $1.25m to $1.33m.

The venue – the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates – will remain the same when this year's competition played from November 22 to 25.

After last year's event George O'Grady, the chief executive of the European Tour, revealed that other venues had expressed interest in hosting the European Tour finale, but said there was never a question of Dubai losing the tournament for the foreseeable future.

"If you speak to the players as I certainly have done this week, 58 of them to be exact, they are all unanimous on one thing; they want the last tournament of the European Tour to remain in Dubai," O'Grady said at the time.