The Race to Dubai is the season-long points race on the DP World Tour, previously known as the European Tour, culminating with the DP World Tour Championship played in Dubai during November.
In 2021, Collin Morikawa became the first American player to win the award following his victory in the DP World Tour Championship despite playing in only three standalone DP World Tour events.
Points are accumulated by playing DP World Tour events, as well as the four major championships and World Golf Championship (WGC) tournaments which are also jointly sanctioned by the PGA Tour. Those joint events also award FedEx Cup points, the PGA Tour’s similar competition, so a player can finish well and even win both titles in the same season.
One of the purposes of the Race to Dubai, formerly called the Order of Merit, was to give players an incentive to play in DP World Tour events to bolster their fields as more international players opted to spend more time on the more lucrative and competitive PGA Tour.
By allowing points to be earned in the joint events, which also award an elevated amount, it diminishes the need for players to have to compete in as many purely DP World Tour contests to move up in the standings.
Most DP World Tour events award the winner between 2000 and 3000 points, with lesser totals to other finishers. However, major championships and the DP World Tour Championship are worth 10,000 points for the winner, while a player receives 8,000 points for winning a WGC event or one of four other designated DP World Tour events.
In 2013, Henrik Stenson became the first golfer to win the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai in the same season.
Morikawa had a similar shot at collecting both trophies and cash bonuses that go along with them, but after leading the FedEx Cup point standings heading into the playoffs, he faltered down the stretch, eventually finishing in a tie for 26th.