There was a lot of specificity in the PGA Tour’s overnight announcement about future membership criteria towards its two-tiered future. Which made the lack of information towards one group somewhat noteworthy.
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The PGA Tour is five years into a strategic alliance with its European counterpart, the DP World Tour, a move largely made to financially support the Old World circuit after the COVID pandemic while combating the looming threat of LIV Golf. An upshot of that agreement was a pathway for the top 10 DP World Tour members to graduate to the PGA Tour, an exemption that has been used by the likes of Australia’s Min Woo Lee [pictured], plus Robert MacIntyre, Matthieu Pavon and Rasmus Hojgaard.
However, in the flood of category eligibility from the PGA Tour’s new model, the DP World Tour avenue remains under construction, with the press release noting, “Access available to top performers from the DP World Tour is being considered as part of the ongoing discussions regarding the future of the strategic alliance.”
Given how much time has been spent on this criteria list, and how everything else is basically set, it’s fair to wonder what precisely is going on.
The answer mostly lies with LIV, or what’s left of it after the former Saudi league filing for bankruptcy last week. As Golf Digest reported earlier this year, LIV players and their managers have been seeking a return entrance to the PGA Tour for months, only to find those doors closed. One possible landing spot, however, could be the DP World Tour, which has allowed LIV players to play in their events. Should LIV continue in 2027, that amnesty is unlikely to remain in place. Still, those within the industry believe LIV players would be welcomed back into the global game should they leave the league.
That possibility has raised the theoretical possibility of a LIV player who’s suspended from the PGA Tour earning a spot to the Championship series by the current DP World Tour top-10 pathway – and circumventing the Challenger series – a move that multiple sources familiar with the tour say hasn’t sat well with current PGA Tour members.
Another potential pain point is the idea that the DP World Tour pathway has drained that tour of its talent, with some on European side of the Atlantic wishing the exemption would disappear in order to strengthen the DP World Tour.
PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp addressed the LIV and DP World Tour matter with the media after the overnight announcement.
“You notice that’s not part of the announcement. That’s very much under discussion both internally and as we continue our discussions with the DP World Tour,” Rolapp said regarding LIV returnees. “So it was really with a broader lens of how do we build the best tour. It was not really looked at specifically on any one particular… on LIV or any other consideration. So that’s generally how we thought about it.”
Rolapp later said the PGA Tour and DP World Tour had a discussion on Monday. “The spirit of those conversations are very productive,” Rolapp said. “Both sides are trying to think creatively about how we modify and improve the relationship we have. So we’ll continue the discussions. Like any discussions, there’s things we agree on, things we don’t agree on, things we’re trying to work through, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Sources familiar with the matter say it’s highly unlikely that the top 10 DP World Tour finishers will get a Championship series invite, with a potential number hovering around three. Rolapp said overnight (Australian time) that he didn’t see any scenario where there were no Championship series cards offered to the DP World Tour. Additionally, another set of DP World Tour players would get the opportunity to play on the Challenger series.
However, as Rolapp was addressing the matter in the United States, Rory McIlroy was speaking to the press at DP World Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship in England. There, the six-time major champion asserted the Challenger tier would be a lateral move for DP World Tour players. McIlroy has previously called the Challenger series another iteration of the Korn Ferry Tour.
“I guess from my point of view I don’t see any reason why a DP World Tour player would go to the Challenger Series. I don’t see that as an upward move in your career,” McIlroy said. “So it would just be, OK, how many cards is reasonable to give to the DP World Tour for the Championship Series? I would imagine that’s sort of what the ongoing discussions are. But I guess from DP World Tour… I mean, obviously I’m a dual member, but I just don’t see… I mean, you’re really trying to create something on this tour that is a viable alternative to the Challenger Series.
“Obviously this is going to be a pathway to the Championship Series. No one’s going to argue that the Championship Series is going to be the highest level of tour golf that you can play, and then it’s just deciding what an adequate number of cards is to go from here to the Championship Series.”
The PGA Tour is expected to finalise its 2028 schedule by February, although a final decision on DP World Tour avenues to the tour is envisioned to be completed before year’s end.
