Race to Dubai 2024: DP World Tour stars seek invaluable PGA Tour spots

For the past four years, the professional golf landscape has been shaped by the emergence of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League and its burgeoning rivalry with the PGA Tour and to a lesser extent, the DP World Tour. To help stave off the rising tide of competition and defections, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour formed a strategic alliance in November 2020. That strategic alliance includes a pathway for the top DP World Tour players to earn a PGA Tour card for the following season, allowing them to play on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

DP World Tour Pathway Program Offers Chance to Compete on the PGA Tour

The DP World Tour Pathway program kicked off in 2023 with the top 10 players on the Race to Dubai Rankings (not already qualified for the PGA Tour) earning the right to play PGA Tour events in 2024.

Historically, players coming to the United States to play on the PGA Tour from the DP World Tour have seen mixed results in terms of success and failure. Players like Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, and Luke Donald have gone on to win majors, become top-ranked players in the world, and rack up victories on the PGA Tour. Others, like Colin Montgomerie, failed to achieve the same kind of success as they did in Europe, Montgomerie having never won on the PGA Tour.

The inaugural DP World Tour Pathway class of 2024 shot par for the course – great moments of victory for some, while others struggled mightily to adjust to different style golf courses, being away from home and family, and better competition.

Matthieu Pavon from France won early in the season, claiming victory at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre won the RBC Canadian Open in June, as well as the Scottish Open, a co-sanctioned tournament between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

For others, the struggle was real – DP World Tour veteran Ryan Fox, who turned pro in 2011, missed seven out of 22 cuts, while Finland’s Sami Välimäki – a promising talent on the DP World Tour – missed 12 out of 20 cuts and recorded just two Top 25s in 2024.

Players Are Ready to Make a Final Push for their PGA Tour Cards

With just one regular event and two playoff events left in the DP World Tour season, players are sprinting for the finish line. Playoff events carry more Race to Dubai Ranking points, so those on the bubble for their PGA Tour card can make a move if they play well over the next month.

Among those currently in the Top 10 of the DP World Tour Pathway program is Matteo Manassero, the 31-year-old, Italian who has seen a career resurgence this season, including a win at the Jonsson Workwear Open in South Africa and a third-place finish at the Amgen Irish Open last month. Manassero is 8th in the R2DR.

Despite not having a win this season, Tom McKibbin, the 21-year-old rising star from Northern Ireland, is currently 14th in the R2DR and 8th in the DP World Tour Pathway program. McKibbin has made 21 out of 25 cuts with two Top 5 finishes and 13 Top 25 finishes. This consistent play has put him in a prime position to claim one of the 10 coveted PGA Tour cards.

Still, others have work to do if they want to move up and into the Top 10. They include England’s Jordan Smith who is just 16.93 points back, as well as recent winner Dan Bradbury who won the FedEx Open de France to move up 73 spots in the R2DR to 25th and within sight of a PGA Tour card.

With so much at stake over the next month, each shot will take on added significance for players. Those with a chance of securing a PGA Tour card for the 2025 season will face some of the most intense pressure of their careers, which makes for excellent viewing for both PGA Tour and DP World Tour fans.