PGA Tour commissioner Tom Finchem has insisted he is not interested in a bidding war with the European Tour.
Finchem was speaking ahead of the Players Championship, which starts on Thursday and will hand out the richest purse in the history of golf at Ј4.8million.
The European Tour has already announced that it will stage a Ј5.1million event in Dubai next year but Finchem claimed his event's prize money was not a reaction.
"Our congratulations to the European Tour for securing the support for a US$10 million purse," Finchem said.
"We think that's good not just for the European Tour, but for professional golf.
"When we get to that point, I couldn't say. Obviously we are moving in that direction and we'll get there but we are not going to do it in response to the European Tour.
"The purse [at the Players Championship] has always gone one way, and that's up.
"We have certain things we look at in terms of setting the purse, and what the purse is going to be in Dubai is not one of them."
Of course, the purse alone does not determine a tournament's importance. After all, the four majors hardly make a big deal of how much money they hand out.
Finchem has to tread a fine line as he tries to elevate his own flagship event to major status.
After all, there are already four majors, and it's trite to suggest a fifth can suddenly be added to the list.
Finchem does not publicly proclaim the Players Championship to be a major but he simply tries to make it the best tournament that it can be.
He added: "In terms of the three things we look at most frequently, the quality of [past] champions, the quality of the course and the quality of the field, we're delighted going into this week.
"We like to think the depth of the field, the extent to which you go down and find players that have the opportunity or potential to win, is the deepest in the game."
Only one European - Sandy Lyle in 1987 - has won the event since it started in 1973.
There are 21 this year - seven British players, Irishman Padraig Harrington and 13 continental Europeans, so Europe can hardly complain about lack of representation.
But as Open champion Harrington pointed out, golf is not a team sport, with the exception of the Ryder Cup and the occasional other event.
He said: "I'm an individual. I'm out here trying to compete against the other guys. If there's a reason why Europeans haven't won, I don't know."
Lee Westwood added: "I suppose it's a bit of a numbers game. We don't have that many people playing."
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