They say that sorrow with bread is less sorrow. This saying has been embraced by Pablo Larrazábal after his tough Sunday at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. The Spanish golfer started with a chance of victory, in fact, he began the final round with the same score as the winner, but a card of 77 strokes, with seven bogeys and two birdies, caused him to fall from the top 10 to 24th place. So far, the bad news, and with what he earned at the Gary Player Country Club, Pablo has entered the top 40 of the historical earnings list of the DP World Tour. What does this mean? Well, basically, it’s a big deal. Let us explain…
The top 40 of the career money list of the European Tour offers exemptions based on different criteria. In Larrazábal’s case, he could have up to three extra years of card on the DP World Tour as long as he remains in that top 40: one for being in the top 40, another for having won seven or more European Tour tournaments, and a third for being a member for 15 or more consecutive years. It can be applied at any time, but the essential condition is to be in the top 40 of the earnings list.
Let’s give you a specific example to understand it better. If Larrazábal were to lose his DP World Tour card in 2025 due to the Race to Dubai, he would have an additional year of exemption if he is in the top 40 of the earnings list, the same as happened this year to Rafa Cabrera Bello. Imagine that in 2026, in that top 40 category, things go very well for him on the European circuit and he manages to keep his card through the Race to Dubai or as a winner. In that case, the remaining two years would be saved for the future, for when he needs them. However, to be able to use it, he must be in the top 40. Thus, we could say that Larrazábal has up to three extra years on the DP World Tour as long as he remains in the top 40 of the money list.
For this, obviously, he needs to play well. Right now, he has just entered by a very narrow margin, right at 40th place. Specifically, he has overtaken Paul Lawrie by just over seven thousand euros. His situation is not bad at all at the moment. Ahead, he has Jamie Donaldson in his sights, just over 200,000 euros away, Peter Hanson and Thongchai Jaidee, these at slightly more than 250,000 euros and over 600,000, respectively. This means that if he has a good year in 2025, he could surpass these three, who play very little or not at all on the circuit. Ahead, he also has, further away, what Pablo Larrazábal earns being in the top 40 money list DP World Tour, who is also playing little on the DP World Tour lately, we’ll see what happens if he doesn’t continue in LIV Golf, and David Howell, who will also stop adding because he has already run out of category.
Similarly, the rivals behind him do not worry him too much either. Right on his tail are Paul Lawrie, Anders Hansen, Stephen Gallacher, José María Olazábal, Raphael Jacquelin, Michael Campbell, Ángel Cabrera, or Paul McGinley, who hardly play on the European circuit anymore, nothing in some cases. The first pursuers who could surpass him are currently Andy Sullivan and Marcel Siem, in 49th and 50th place. They are more than a million euros behind Pablo, so it’s not easy either.
In any case, anything that involves playing well in 2025 could practically guarantee him those three extra years, a significant achievement earned with the sweat of his brow. Let’s remember that Larrazábal is 41 years old, so it’s very easy to think that, at a minimum, we will have him on the DP World Tour until he’s 44, although seeing his level of play at the Nedbank, it’s likely to be a few more years. That is certainly his goal.
