DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -Two-time British Open champion Greg Norman predicts that the prize money in golf will continue to decrease because of the recession.
The 54-year-old Australian spoke Wednesday before the start of the Dubai World Championship, the European Tour's season-ending event. The tournament opens Thursday on the Norman-designed Earth Course.
The tournament originally had a $10 million prize fund, but it was reduced to $7.5 million in September because of the global economic downturn.
``Golf is not going to be like it used to be. It's tough out there - tough in business,'' Norman said. ``... I have gone through the cycle of things being really good and then going through another cycle.
``But I don't think the young generation see it because they have never seen it before. I have been through three recessions.''
Norman advised golfers to avoid complacency.
``We golfers have got to step up to the plate and be alert to it,'' he said. ``We have all had to tighten our belts and I think it would be very responsible of the players to be cognizant of that.''
English golfer Lee Westwood, who has won about $3 million this year, said the prize in Dubai - the winner will get $1.25 million - is still a lot.
``We should not complain about the cut in the prize fund here because we are still competing for an awful lot of money,'' he said, ``and we are aware that some of golf sponsors are struggling at the moment.''
