Maintaining or obtaining the DP World Tour card from 2026 will be considerably more difficult. The European Tour made the announcement this Wednesday, while also releasing the schedule for the next season. This confirms the information previously reported by Bola Provisional of TenGolf last week. Fewer players will retain their card through the Race to Dubai, fewer players will obtain the card through the HotelPlanner Tour, and fewer players will access the first division via the School.
Specifically, the adjustment measures to be adopted from the next season are as follows:
– The cut to retain the full card through the Race to Dubai 2026 (for the 2027 season) is reduced from the top 110 to the top 100.
– All players included in the Race to Dubai and/or the Road to Mallorca will count when defining the categories for the following season. No player will be considered additionally. (Exception: ranked amateurs and associate members will continue to be considered additionally in the Road to Mallorca ranking).
– Players finishing in positions 101–110 of the Race to Dubai 2026 will be eligible for Category 18 (conditional card) and will initially be placed below those entering through the Qualifying School (for 2027). They will be reordered during the season along with the graduates of the Qualifying School according to partial results.
– The number of cards available for the top-ranked players of the HotelPlanner Tour is reduced from 20 to 15.
– Players finishing in positions 16–20 of the Road to Mallorca 2026 ranking will be eligible for Category 19, immediately below the players finishing in positions 111–125 of the Race to Dubai.
– The DP World Tour cards available at the 2026 Qualifying School are reduced from top 20 and ties to top 15 and ties.
– The top players from six international tours (South Africa, Australasia, India, Korea, Japan, and China) will continue to be eligible for Category 17. The next two best available players from the PGA Tour of Australasia, Sunshine Tour, Japan Golf Tour, and Korean Golf Tour will be eligible for a full HotelPlanner Tour card.
In this way, the DP World Tour becomes more demanding and above all rationalises the playing options. That is, if you retain the Race to Dubai card, you ensure that you play practically everything the following year, including the BMW PGA Championship, and the cards coming from the HotelPlanner Tour and the School also offer more playing opportunities.
