‘You can't buy legacy' – Snooker star Shaun Murphy says £500,000 is tournament way off Triple Crown
He claims that the tournament is still far behind the game's triple crown events, the traditional peak of the Snooker calendar.
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The Saudi event offers some of the sport's biggest prize pots, with the top players in the world competing for a total prize pool of over £2.3million.
Despite the money being comparable to the prizes on offer in the Snooker World Championships, Murphy feels that the event cannot hold a candle to its more prestigious counterparts.
He told Metro: "I've still got one foot in the history camp.
"I still think the history and the legacy of the existing three majors, the Triple Crown events, I think they're stand alone events.
"This event obviously rivals the World Championship in terms of prize money and it's a 10-year deal, so it's got the potential to become in great standing.
"But at the moment, for me, the other three would still be ahead of this one, despite the prize money."
The winner of the Saudi event will pocket a hefty £500,000 prize, the same on offer at the World Championships.
There is even a £50,000 bounty for any player who manages a 147 break at the tournament, meaning the potential prizes are also very attractive to lower ranked players hoping to pull off a miracle.
But the 43-year-old says that money can only bring the tournament so far when trying to compete with the game's most established events.
"You can't buy legacy. The prize money here is massive and we're all enjoying competing and somebody is going to walk away with £500,000 this week, it's an amazing opportunity and we're all very grateful for it.
"But the legacy and how special the Triple Crown events are, you can't buy that.
"For me, those events are head and shoulders above everything else."
There are few more qualified to speak on the prestige that comes with the triple crown events, with 'The Magician' having won all three, including a World Championship title in 2005.
But Murphy won't be bagging another big win in Saudi Arabia, following his 6-1 loss to world number three Mark Williams earlier today.
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 - with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
1969 - John Spencer
1970 - Ray Reardon
1971 - John Spencer
1972 - Alex Higgins
1973 - Ray Reardon (2)
1974 - Ray Reardon (3)
1975 - Ray Reardon (4)
1976 - Ray Reardon (5)
1977 - John Spencer (2)
1978 - Ray Reardon (6)
1979 - Terry Griffiths
1980 - Cliff Thorburn
1981 - Steve Davis
1982 - Alex Higgins (2)
1983 - Steve Davis (2)
1984 - Steve Davis (3)
1985 - Dennis Taylor
1986 - Joe Johnson
1987 - Steve Davis (4)
1988 - Steve Davis (5)
1989 - Steve Davis (6)
1990 - Stephen Hendry
1991 - John Parrott
1992 - Stephen Hendry (2)
1993 - Stephen Hendry (3)
1994 - Stephen Hendry (4)
1995 - Stephen Hendry (5)
1996 - Stephen Hendry (6)
1997 - Ken Doherty
1998 - John Higgins
1999 - Stephen Hendry (7)
2000 - Mark Williams
2001 - Ronnie O'Sullivan
2002 - Peter Ebdon
2003 - Mark Williams (2)
2004 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)
2005 - Shaun Murphy
2006 - Graeme Dott
2007 - John Higgins (2)
2008 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)
2009 - John Higgins (3)
2010 - Neil Robertson
2011 - John Higgins (4)
2012 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)
2013 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)
2014 - Mark Selby
2015 - Stuart Bingham
2016 - Mark Selby (2)
2017 - Mark Selby (3)
2018 - Mark Williams (3)
2019 - Judd Trump
2020 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (6)
2021 - Mark Selby (4)
2022 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (7)
2023 - Luca Brecel
2024 - Kyren Wilson
2025 - Zhao Xintong
Most World Titles (modern era)
7 - Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan
6 - Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
4 - John Higgins, Mark Selby
3 - John Spencer, Mark Williams
2 - Alex Higgins
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