Hero Dubai Desert Classic Prize Money Payout 2025

Rory McIlroy with the Hero Dubai Desert Classic trophy

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 13 January 2025

The DP World Tour officially returns from its early-season break this week, and it is the Hero Dubai Desert Classic which has the honor of kickstarting the International Swing section of the season’s Global Swing phase.

The first of five Rolex Series tournaments in 2025, the Dubai Desert Classic has generated a significant number of high-profile winners since being introduced in 1989, from Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to Seve Ballesteros and Bryson DeChambeau.

McIlroy has lifted the trophy four times already and is planning on making it five this year via a third successive title. If he manages it, the Northern Irishman will take the top prize of a little over $1.5m from an overall purse of $9m.

But, in order to reign supreme once more, the World No.3 will have to fight off a stacked field at Emirates Golf Club which includes the likes of Akshay Bhatia, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, and Tyrrell Hatton.

The DP World Tour's 2025 opener contains the second-largest prize fund of the year, although it will be matched by three other Rolex Series tournaments once they come around - the Genesis Scottish Open, the BMW PGA Championship, and the Abu Dhabi Championship - before ultimately being surpassed by the $10m DP World Tour Championship in November.

Rory McIlroy holds up four fingers to signify how many Dubai Desert Classic titles he has won — McIlroy is on the hunt for a fifth Dubai Desert Classic title in 2025

This week also marks a rare occasion where the DP World Tour's event offers a larger prize purse than its PGA Tour rival, with $8.5m available at The American Express in California.

As well as the eye-catching purse, there are also 8,000 Race To Dubai points and the small matter of 2,000 Ryder Cup points available. Below is the prize money payout for the 2025 Dubai Desert Classic.

Dubai Desert Classic Prize Money Breakdown

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Position	Prize Money
1st	$1,530,000
2nd	$990,000
3rd	$567,000
4th	$450,000
5th	$381,600
6th	$315,000
7th	$270,000
8th	$225,000
9th	$201,600
10th	$180,000
11th	$165,600
12th	$154,800
13th	$144,900
14th	$137,700
15th	$132,300
16th	$126,900
17th	$121,500
18th	$116,100
19th	$111,600
20th	$108,000
21st	$104,400
22nd	$101,700
23rd	$99,000
24th	$96,300
25th	$93,600
26th	$90,900
27th	$88,200
28th	$85,500
29th	$82,800
30th	$80,100
31st	$77,400
32nd	$74,700
33rd	$72,000
34th	$69,300
35th	$66,600
36th	$63,900
37th	$62,100
38th	$60,300
39th	$58,500
40th	$56,700
41st	$54,900
42nd	$53,100
43rd	$51,300
44th	$49,500
45th	$47,700
46th	$45,900
47th	$44,100
48th	$42,300
49th	$40,500
50th	$38,700
51st	$36,900
52nd	$35,100
53rd	$33,300
54th	$31,500
55th	$30,600
56th	$29,700
57th	$28,800
58th	$27,900
59th	$27,000
60th	$26,100
61st	$25,200
62nd	$24,300
63rd	$23,400
64th	$22,500
65th	$21,600
66th	$20,700
67th	$19,800
68th	$18,900
69th	$18,000
70th	$17,100

Who Are The Star Names At The 2025 Hero Dubai Desert Classic?

Akshay Bhatia smiles at the 2024 Valero Texas Open

As well as some of the biggest names on the DP World Tour - such as Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, and Tommy Fleetwood - there are a number of PGA Tour regulars and LIV Golf League players involved at the 2025 Hero Dubai Desert Classic, too.

Akshay Bhatia is making a rare appearance on the European circuit alongside his US-based rival and one of Team Europe's Ryder Cup heroes, Viktor Hovland.

LIV golfers Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton have featured in DP World Tour events a little more often in recent months and will continue to do so as they hunt a spot on Luke Donald's roster at Bethpage Black in September.

Meanwhile, Patrick Reed, Adrian Meronk, and Thomas Pieters - who left Bubba Watson's RangeGoats for Dustin Johnson's 4Aces over the winter - add to the notable list of LIV players involved in Dubai this week.

What Is The Prize Money For The Hero Dubai Desert Classic?

Players are competing for a purse of $9m at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, the DP World Tour’s first Rolex Series event of the year. That’s an identical sum to the 2023 and 2024 tournaments. Of that, the winner will earn $1.53m with the runner-up banking $990,000.

Who Is Playing In The Hero Dubai Desert Classic 2025?

The Hero Dubai Desert classic is one of the highest-profile tournaments on the DP World Tour schedule, so its no surprise there is a strong field. Four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy is the headliner, while there is also an appearance from Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Akshay Bhatia, Viktor Hovland, and Patrick Reed.

Jonny Leighfield is our Staff News Writer who joined Golf Monthly just in time for the 2023 Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup. He graduated from the University of Brighton with a degree in Sport Journalism in 2017 and spent almost five years as the sole sports reporter at his local newspaper. During his time with Golf Monthly, Jonny has interviewed several stars of the game, including Robert MacIntyre, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Joaquin Niemann. An improving golfer himself, Jonny enjoys learning as much about the game as he can and recently reached his Handicap goal of 18 for the first time. He attended both the 150th and 151st Open Championships and dreams of attending The Masters one day.