By Fred Altvater
With many of its biggest names defecting to the LIV Tour the DP World Tour has lacked star power at their events. It appears that the PGA Tour, who has a strategic alliance with the DP World Tour, will allow easier access to European Tour events for their members.
Full membership to the DP World Tour will be granted to PGA Tour members ranking 126-200, which means those players will immediately be eligible to enter DP World Tour events. Affiliate membership will be granted to those players who participate in any Race to Dubai ranking tournament.
The Race to Dubai is a season-long competition to qualify for the DP World Tour Playoffs and earn additional prize money, plus a piece of a $6 million bonus pool. Players who compete in 15, or more DP World Tour tournaments can also earn a guaranteed minimum bonus of $150,000.
Eligible players must actively join the DP World Tour in December for the 2024 season. The PGA Tour also has a system in place to allow the top 10 players at the end of the Race to Dubai Season to be issued PGA Tour membership for the following season, if they do not already have membership on the American Tour.
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.”
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the DP World Tour, 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.”
The PGA Tour and the DP World Tour have been at odds in the past, but with the threat of the LIV poaching top names and diluting professional golf, they have become close allies. In January 2021, with the European Tour struggling to stay afloat during COVID and the threats posed by the LIV Series, the PGA Tour purchased 15% of the European Tour’s stock for $85 million, plus an additional $30 million to be paid via installments over the next three years.
Top European players have always migrated to the United States for the larger purses and increased earning power, but most remained loyal to their home tour. Now the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour are working together, more closely than ever before, to provide a clear path for Europeans to compete on the PGA Tour. This assures a fresh intake of young talented players competing in Europe, but also making their way to the PGA Tour more accessable.
