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• European Tour announce newly-established Access List for 2017
• Aims to improve graduates’ chances of retaining their cards
• Ten spots up for grabs for money earned at less lucrative events

EUROPEAN TOUR | ACCESS LIST

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley has announced a new adjustment to the Race to Dubai which will aim to give Challenge Tour and Q-School graduates a greater chance of retaining their cards.

The newly-established Access List will run throughout 2017 alongside the Race to Dubai but will exclude money earned at the most lucrative tournaments of the season.

“Looking after the interests of all our members is a high priority for us” – Keith Pelley

Those events are the seven on the new Rolex Series, The Masters and US PGA Championship and the four World Golf Championships. Money earned at The Open and US Open Championships will be included as all members have an equal opportunity to pre-qualify for those tournaments.

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The top ten on the Access List at the end of the season, not otherwise exempt from the final Race to Dubai, will then retain their cards for the following season.

Consequently, the number of players retaining full membership from the Race to Dubai will be reduced from 110 to 100, with the Access List players being given a category immediately below the top 100 category.

This year, only 13 of the 42 graduates from the 2015 Challenge Tour and Q-School – including Road to Oman champion Ricardo Gouveia (above) – kept their cards for 2017.

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And five of those 13 finished between 102 and 110 in the Race to Dubai rankings, with Nacho Elvira (above) the highest-ranked in the Race to Dubai at No.42.

The top performing players on the Access List will also be given the chance to compete against the world’s best players in the Rolex Series, with three spots in the fields of the BMW PGA Championship, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation and the Italian Open, available to the top three players in the Access List at the time.

Keith Pelley, chief executive of the European Tour, said: “We have consistently said that looking after the interests of all our members, whatever their ranking, is a high priority for us and the establishment of the Access List is an important part of that commitment.”

Your thoughts on European Tour Access List

What do you make of the European Tour Access List, which has been brought in for the 2017 season? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.

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