Last year, Alvaro Quiros closed with a 67 to beat Paul Lawrie by two strokes. Luke Donald closed with back-to-back 66s to grab third place. That helped him become the first player to ever top the PGA and European Tour money lists in the same season.
Starting at the U.S. Open, Quiros missed eight cuts in nine starts and that caused him to finish outside the 60 in the Race to Dubai, therefore he will not defend his title.
Four of the top six players in the world rankings will be in the field this week. Any player in the top 34 of the Race to Dubai can jump into the top 10 with a win this week.
Three players -- Thomas Bjorn, Ross Fisher and Retief Goosen -- are skipping the tournament.
Golf Channel has lengthy coverage from 3-8 a.m. (ET) all four days.
The European Tour starts its 2013 schedule on December 6. Before that is the Nedbank Challenge, a 12-player event that features four of the top 10 from the current Race to Dubai standings.
