Things have not gone well in South Korea for the majority of the Armada who were playing their last card to maintain full playing rights for next year on the DP World Tour.
Of the five who arrived in trouble at the Genesis Championship, four have missed the cut, meaning they will not finish the year among the top 114 golfers in the Race to Dubai, or in other words, they have not been able to maintain category 10 for the next season. The affected players are Santi Tarrio, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Adri Arnaus, and Sebas García Rodríguez.
All of them, except Cabrera Bello, will need to attend the Final Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School to try to obtain category 17 for next year, a status that would allow them to play almost the entire schedule, except for the Rolex Series tournaments and a few other top events. It would be something like a second chance. If they do not pass the Final Stage, they would still have a category on the DP World Tour, but it would be even worse, with fewer playing opportunities and little room for error.
Rafa’s situation is different. The Canary Islander, top 40 on the Race to Dubai money list, has secured a full card for another year through the money list category. As he told Ten Golf in Sotogrande last week, he would actually prefer not to use that option and risk it next year at the Final Stage or even in the lower category for those who have fallen outside the top 114 of the Race to Dubai. The reason is that the money list status can only be used for one year, and Rafa would have preferred a year in which he had nothing. As of today, unless the rules change, DP World Tour members are required to play with the highest category they have, so unless this rule changes, it is not even worth Rafa going to the Final Stage, as category 17 is lower than the money list category.
Those who can improve their situation at the Final Stage are the other three Spaniards: Tarrio, Arnaus, and Sebas. As you know, the mentioned Final takes place at Infinitum Golf from 8 to 13 November. It should be noted that García Rodríguez was in the same situation last year and ended up regaining playing rights by finishing in eighth position in the Final. The top 25 and ties achieved it.
Iván Cantero continues to fight for his place tooth and nail
In the same situation as the three Spaniards are Freddy Schott, Renato Paratore, or Lukas Nemecz, to name a few cases. On the contrary, players like Marco Penge, Matthew Southgate, Ricardo Gouveia, Eddie Pepperell, James Morrison, Edoardo Molinari, or Fillipo Celli have made the cut and are still fighting for their full rights, beyond, of course, Iván Cantero, the fifth Spaniard who arrived in Korea needing to play well to keep his card and who, for now, is excelling, positioned in fourth place in the tournament with -8. Those who are going to suffer greatly are Ross Fisher and Jens Dantorp. Both have missed the cut and, although the projection currently places them inside, they will depend on other results to know if they finish among the top 114. Fisher was the last player to maintain category 10 last year.
