Have the DP World Tour handed struggling PGA Tour players a lifeline?
The Strategic Alliance between the two bodies is being extended with PGA Tour players offered the chance to become full members of the DP World Tour
PGA Tour players who fail to secure their card during the Fall Series are to get a chance to continue their careers in Europe.
The DP World Tour is providing playing rights for PGA Tour members next year in what it calls a “further illustration of the strength of the relationship between the two tours through the existing strategic alliance”.
Those who have finished 126th to 200th on the Fall Points List can apply for full membership of the DP World Tour, while affiliate membership is also available to any other PGA Tour member who plays in a Race to Dubai tournament next year.
Creating a new ‘Non-member Race to Dubai Points List’, those players will be able to earn points and, if they get enough, qualify for the DP World Tour playoffs and a season ending Bonus Pool if they have “played four or more counting tournaments outside the Majors”.
The new full members, meanwhile, will compete from a specific category with only five players eligible to compete in an event in any given week.
The new options, which were “discussed and ratified by the DP World Tour Tournament Committee”, follow on from the Ten Cards initiative agreed last year – which sees the top ten not otherwise exempt players on the 2023 Race to Dubai earn PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season.
They will be ranked after the top 125 finishing players on the Fall Points List.
DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley “excited at the possibilities”
So while the alliance’s Ten Cards strategy will give the best European performers a chance to make their mark on the PGA Tour, the tour are now also prepared to offer playing opportunities in Europe for those at the other end of the spectrum in the United States.
Players ranked 126th to 150th through the Fall Events are well down the pecking order of the PGA Tour’s adjusted categories – coming behind the top 30 Korn Ferry Tour qualifiers and the Top 5 and ties from Q-School.
Keith Pelley, DP World Tour chief executive, said: “Our Ten Cards initiative will give the opportunity for DP World Tour members to excel on the PGA Tour next season and this new membership opportunity announced today will give PGA Tour members the chance to do exactly the same on our Tour. I am excited at the possibilities.”
David Howell, Chairman of the DP World Tour’s Tournament Committee, said: “When we announced our Strategic Alliance with the PGA Tour in November 2021, one of the prime objectives was to give as many opportunities as possible to members of both Tours, and this is another perfect example of how this is working.”
Now have your say
What do you think? Will this strengthen the tour? What do you make of the Strategic Alliance with the PGA Tour? Let me know by leaving a comment on X.
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
