EUROPEAN TOUR NEWS ROUND-UPWHY CHANGE? Win or lose, the beauty of life on the road for a tour player - although there are also downsides - is there is always another stop-off point the following week. The difference for Damien McGrane this time is he arrived in Shanghai for this week's BMW Asian Open as, to use his own words, "the top dog".

Being a tournament winner changes people's perceptions. However, McGrane, who has moved to a career-high 148th in the official world rankings, doesn't intend to change how he prepares for tournaments or his approach to a career that has been based on a strong work ethic and dogged determination.

"I'll try and stick with my game plan," said McGrane. "I know what I want to do and try to achieve and I won't change what I do. I haven't changed in the past, with or without success, and I am not going to change now."

McGrane's runaway success in the China Open where he had nine shots to spare - "I never thought my first win would come to me in the manner in which it did, (but) to finish off the job was immensely satisfying," he said - has given him a new security on tour. The two-year exemption means he can literally pick and choose whatever tournaments he plays in, although he has not yet got automatic entry into the majors.

"I'm in golf for the long haul, there are no short cuts for me. Now that I've won one, God knows what I will do in the future. My career has been a long one so far, and hopefully there are more years to come," added McGrane, who has moved to 16th position in the European Ryder Cup points list.

Although he finished fifth behind McGrane, Graeme McDowell further strengthened his position in the Ryder Cup standings. McDowell, who has shown good recent form that included a win in the Ballantines championship in Korea last month, has moved to fourth place in the standings from the European list.

However, the three players ahead of him on the last list - Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson - are currently qualified off the world points list, so McDowell is actually in pole position.

McDowell has moved up to 59th in the latest world rankings. If he is to secure a place in the field for next month's Players Championship at Sawgrass, he needs to break into the world's top-50 by next Monday. To do that, he probably requires a top-three finish in Shanghai.

McGrane and McDowell are joined in the field for the BMW Asian Open by Peter Lawrie, Gary Murphy, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke.

Clarke, who has slipped to 236th in the world rankings, is aiming to get things right on the greens. "My recent play has been pretty good from tee to green, but the putter seems to want to put the ball anywhere but in the hole. It's an area of my game which needs drastic improvement," said Clarke, who pointed out that he had 126 putts in the four rounds in his last tournament, the Portuguese Open, which was 17 more than the winner Gregory Bourdy.

"I can't expect to climb the world rankings with stats like that," he added.

While there is a six-strong Irish contingent in action in Shanghai, where Sweden's Stenson heads the field, there is also a strong challenge headed for this week's Challenge Tour event, the Allianz Open in France. Colm Moriarty, Michael Hoey, Michael McGeady, Stephen Browne, Gareth Maybin and David Higgins are all in action.

Meanwhile, Jumeirah Golf Estates have named the Greg Norman-designed Earth course as host venue for the inaugural Dubai World Championship, the world's richest golf tournament with a US$10 million prize fund, being staged in November 2009.

Norman, en route to Shanghai where he is making a rare appearance on the European Tour, was yesterday in Dubai for his ninth site visit and spent his time fine-tuning the course design.

The tournament is the climax to the new US$10 million Race to Dubai, a season-long competition replacing the European Tour Order of Merit.