Tournament Notebook

AKRON, Ohio (AP) -Lee Westwood says prize money from the lucrative ``Race to Dubai'' on the European Tour has been reduced by 25 percent because of the economy.

``Not disappointed, not surprised,'' Westwood said Wednesday from the Bridgestone Invitational. ``I think it's a reality check for everybody that in times like this - when there's a credit crunch, people are struggling financially - that nobody is immune. I heard before it all came out in the press that it was going from $10 million down to $7 1/2 million. That's still a massive prize when you think about it.

``I think we're lucky to be playing for that kind of money.''

The Guardian reported this week that prize funds would be cut from $10 million to $7.5 million, both in the season-ending Dubai World Championship and the bonus pool from the accumulative points in the Race to Dubai.

This is the first year of the points race, sponsored by Dubai-based developer Leisurecorp. The Dubai World Championship was billed as the richest tournament in golf, topping The Players Championship at $9.5 million.

The Guardian said European Tour chief executive George O'Grady would be traveling to Dubai this week to make an announcement.

The European Tour declined comment except for a statement that said, ``The agreement is proceeding as planned, but George O'Grady will be making a visit to the region in the very near future.''

Henrik Stenson said he had only heard rumors of a prize reduction and did not want to assess anything until it was confirmed by the European Tour.

``The world economic situation affects everyone in one way or another,'' Stenson said. ``All the tours are struggling to keep sponsors. I think we're lucky in golf because we have a strong product to offer.''

Stenson said the SAS Masters in Sweden, held a week after the British Open, cut its prize money by 40 percent. On the PGA Tour, the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tenn., dropped its purse by $500,000.

``If the option is to cut down prize money or have no tournament at all, we'd take the tournament,'' he said. ``Only a small portion of the players would look at the money.''

The Race to Dubai had hopes of attracting U.S.-based players, and among those who joined the European Tour this year were Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas, Geoff Ogilvy and Ben Curtis, a former British Open champion who previously took up full membership in Europe.

Curtis said any prize reduction would not change his plans.

``It's still a lot of money,'' Curtis said. ``And if you play well, you get rewarded, like it should be.''

Westwood, runner-up at the Bridgestone event last year to Vijay Singh, did not believe support for the Race to Dubai would change.

``I can fully understand, and I'm pretty supportive, in a way, that they're still hanging in there because you look at a lot of sponsors, you look at how unfortunate Buick has been over here and people like that,'' he said. ``We're just lucky to be playing in big tournaments for that kind of money, never mind whether it's $10 million or $7 1/2 (million).''

Buick announced Tuesday that it was ending its sponsorship of two PGA Tour events.