David Puig plays this week at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship thanks to a tournament invitation. It is his first appearance on the DP World Tour in 2025, but in this case, there is an important novelty: the Spanish player debuts in the emirate with his status as an affiliated member of the tour, a status that will allow him to earn points for the Race to Dubai and also for the European Ryder Cup team qualification, without incurring the relevant fines as a LIV Golf player. For any professional golfer, this would already be much more than an interesting detail, but in Puig’s specific case, it can almost be seen as the start of an exciting adventure, because we are not talking about just any player…
He is only 23 years old, having just turned last December, and has barely played four tournaments in his entire career on the regular European tour calendar: that Open de España he played in 2021, still as an amateur, and three more tournaments he played last autumn (Open de España, Alfred Dunhill Links, and Estrella Damm Andalucía Masters). And with such a limited resume, he has already made a mark. For several compelling reasons.
Firstly, let’s think about one thing: being a LIV Golf player, and therefore unable to earn points for much of his calendar, he secured a spot for the Paris Olympics, thanks mainly to his successful trajectory on the Asian Tour, a tour where he already boasts two victories.
There are more reasons that show we are dealing with a player who is well above average. A conclusive example: with the Race to Dubai points he would have earned last year in the three tournaments he played, already mentioned, it would have been enough for him to comfortably maintain playing rights on the DP World Tour.
– His third place in the Open de España, tied with five other players, would have given him 204.08 points.
– His fourth place in the Alfred Dunhill Links, tied with two other players, would have given him 212.5 points.
– And his twelfth place in the Estrella Damm Andalucía Masters, tied with one player, would have given him 83.25 points.
– The total would have been 499.83 points, and to save the card last year, 427 were needed…
– Additionally, the 38 points he would have scored with his performance in the US Open, where he finished in 55th place alone, should be added. He would then have reached 537.83 points, enough to finish in 100th place in the Race to Dubai. Is it or is it not a special case?
It must also be emphasised what this young professional has done on the Asian Tour, where he has played as much as he could with the primary goal of earning world ranking points. Puig, to date, has played seventeen tournaments on the Asian Tour, and his record is dazzling in such a short span: in those seventeen tournaments, he has accumulated two victories, seven top 5s, nine top tens, twelve top 20s, and only one missed cut. Is he or is he not someone who is well above average?
Another small detail. Although it is true that he has only played four tournaments on the regular DP World Tour calendar so far, it is worth noting that he has never played a round over par on this tour to date. Not a single one. And his average is 68.25 strokes in the 16 rounds he has completed.
In 2025, he will only be able to play with invitations or by finishing within the top ten (or top 5 if it is a co-sanctioned tournament) and thus earning a spot in the next tournament, provided his commitment to the LIV Golf calendar allows it. Anyway, next week he will be in Bahrain, as he has also received an invitation. At the end of the year, if he accumulates the necessary points in the Race to Dubai to maintain playing rights, he will no longer be able to become an affiliated member, as he will have a higher category. By then, it will be necessary to see how and in what way the famous fines for LIV players are being managed…
The fact is that David Puig‘s counter on the European tour is finally starting. He will not have many opportunities to score for the Ryder and the Race to Dubai, but he has already shown that he does not need many to make an impact.
