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For better or for worse, there is a new subplot to the climax of the DP World Tour season these days.

Rory McIlroy is set to win a sixth Race to Dubai crown – awarded to the winner of the order of merit after the DP World Tour Championship finale at the Jumeirah Golf Estates this week.

However, through Wentworth’s HQ’s strategic alliance with the PGA Tour, there are also ten golden tickets up for grabs in the Middle East. First introduced last season, the ’10 Cards Initiative’ allows the best players based full-time on the DP World Tour to earn playing rights on the American circuit.

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Last year, Robert MacIntyre and Matthieu Pavon earned their PGA Tour cards through this pathway, with both winning their maiden title on their first full season Stateside.

MacIntyre won the Canadian Open and the co-sanctioned Scottish Open, while Pavon stole a breakthrough victory at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier in the season.

The DP World Tour’s move, has however, come under stinging criticism.

Two-time tour winner Eddie Pepperell said on the Chipping Forecast podcast that the inevitable talent drain makes zero sense from a commercial perspective.

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“I personally think it’s a disaster for the DP World Tour,” he said. “I can’t think of any good business that tries to not retain its clients, if you like. Just give the best ones away. That makes no sense to me.

“But from the players’ perspective, who all have, frankly, ambitions to play on the biggest stage, which clearly now is PGA Tour, it’s good for them.”

For many eligible golfers ahead of the finale, this is very much the Race to the PGA Tour, rather than the Race to Dubai.

Here are the ten players currently in line for a PGA Tour card in 2025…

DP World Tour players in line for 2025 PGA Tour card

List correct as of November 11, 2024

  1. Thriston Lawrence
  2. Rasmus Hojgaard
  3. Paul Waring
  4. Niklas Norgaard
  5. Matteo Manassero
  6. Jesper Svensson
  7. Thorbjorn Olesen
  8. Rikuya Hoshino
  9. Sebastian Soderberg
  10. Jordan Smith

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Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.

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