The 2026 DP World Tour season kicked off with the BMW Australian PGA Championship, an event co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia, taking place at the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane.
The start of the Race to Dubai down under is nothing new, but its end will bring some.
In an interview with The Scotsman, Guy Kinnings, CEO of the DP World Tour, outlined some important structural changes that are already in place.
The goal of these changes, as he himself stated, is to provide players with more balanced playing opportunities and greater certainty for their seasonal schedules.
But let's see what happens.
DP World Tour, news
At the end of the season just started, the players who will retain their cards for the next one will be the top 100, rather than the top 110 as has been the case until now.
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Similarly, the qualifying courses will also be subject to restrictions.
The Hotel Planner Tour will grant 15 cards, compared to the current 20.
The same goes for the Qualifying School: here too, the cards available will be for the top 15 (and ties), no longer for the top 20.
In total, twenty cards will be missing compared to the current situation.
Kinnings, while reiterating that this package of changes is a response to the evolution of the global professional golf calendar, also emphasizes the fact that the Tournament Committee has given its full support to the decision.
We must not forget, however, that this adjustment is also tied to the Strategic Alliance with the PGA Tour.
One of the points of the agreement stipulates that American Tour players who finish the Fall Series ranked 126th through 200th will be guaranteed access to DP World Tour tournaments.
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The Rules of Golf are a set of standards and procedures by which the sport of golf should be played. They are jointly written and administered by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the governing body of golf worldwide, except in the United States and Mexico, which are governed by the United States Golf Association. An expert committee composed of members of the R&A and the USGA oversees and refines the rules every four years. The latest revision took effect on January 1, 2016. Amendments to the Rules of Golf are generally divided into two main categories: those that improve understanding and those that reduce penalties in certain cases to ensure balance. The rulebook, entitled "Rules of Golf," is published regularly and also includes rules governing amateur status. In Italy, the Italian Golf Federation is responsible for overseeing competitions by enforcing the rules issued by the R&A, ensuring that these rules are observed by clubs, associations, and their members, and managing the resulting sporting justice, protecting their interests abroad.
