The WGC-HSBC Champions will no longer be part of the European Tour’s Final Series from 2016, as part of a new-look three-tournament finish to the Race to Dubai.
This year's end of season swing had contained four events, like the previous two years, although from next year the WGC-HSBC Champions will take place a week before the Final Series.
The changes were confirmed at a press conference which also announced significant alterations to it's membership guidelines that will greatly reduce the number of events players need to compete in.
The season-ending finale will continue to begin at the Turkish Airlines Open from November 3-6, but will now head to a revamped Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa the following week before closing in Dubai, with the BMW Masters dropped from the schedule.
Starting later this month at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, one of six events on South African soil, the schedule takes in 45 tournaments in 26 different countries, with the Australian PGA Championship and the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia featuring for the first time.
"We are delighted to announce the new-look Final Series as part of The 2016 Race to Dubai," Keith Pelley, the Chief Executive of the European Tour, said. "The inclusion of the Nedbank Golf Challenge means we can look forward to visiting Turkey, South Africa and Dubai in an exciting end to the season, with our players competing for $22million across these three events.
"Europe continues to underpin The Race to Dubai, with 20 tournaments in total on European soil, but undoubtedly the strength of our relationships with the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia are also key components in creating a Race to Dubai with a truly global footprint.
"While the Olympic Games in August provided certain challenges in terms of overall scheduling, we nevertheless look forward to golf's return to the Games in Rio in August as yet another reason to view the new season with excitement.
"With the second staging of the EurAsia Cup in January and Europe's defence of The Ryder Cup at the end of September also adding to the drama, the 2016 season promises to be a memorable year in terms of team golf as well as in the individual arena for our members."
The first event of 2016 will once again be the South African Open Championship from January 7, while the Irish Open, hosted by Rory McIlroy, will take place a week earlier from May 19.
Paul Lawrie's match play event also gets an earlier place in the schedule, sandwiched between the US PGA Championship and the Olympics, with the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship being played a week after the Ryder Cup on October 6.
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