Nicolas Colsaerts will retire from professional golf at the end of the 2025 DP World Tour season, with a milestone 500th start to come at next week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The Belgian, 42, made the announcement over the weekend during the FedEx Open de France at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche.
Across a career spanning three decades, Colsaerts has won ten professional titles – three of which have come on the DP World Tour – made 14 Major Championship appearances and represented Europe in the Ryder Cup.
A professional since 2000, he will become the 48th player to reach the mark of 500 DP World Tour starts when the Race to Dubai schedule continues in Scotland after the Ryder Cup at Bethpage.
“I’ve been contemplating the idea of hanging up my clubs for two or three years, because life makes things a bit complicated to manage,” Colsaerts said in an interview with Canal+.
“I no longer have the energy to play 25 to 30 weeks a year to try to pick up half a point here and there. I’m a bit fried.”
Colsaerts came close to winning his fourth DP World Tour title at last year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, finishing runner-up to Tyrrell Hatton at St Andrews – a performance that saw him regain his card for another season and convince him to extend his career.
His first win on the DP World Tour came at the Volvo China Open in 2011, before his second came a year later at the Volvo Match Play Championship in Spain.
Nicolas Colsaerts – 2012 Ryder Cup
Later in 2012, he would help Europe pull off the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in his Ryder Cup debut.
His last victory came at the Open de France in 2019, performing under immense pressure with his DP World Tour status on the line.
He has since faced personal challenges, publicly revealing in a DP World Tour Player Blog in 2022 he feared for his life after being diagnosed with a rare kidney disease.
So far this season, the Abu Dhabi resident has made 25 appearances on the 2025 Race to Dubai with his best result a tie for 17th at the Turkish Airlines Open.
“Ultimately the decision was made a while ago,” he added.
“I was already supposed to retire last year and then there was this miracle at Dunhill where I finished second and I realised that I can reach 500 (tournaments) which was something close to my heart.
“Even before my runner-up finish, it was one thing that bothered me, not having managed to play 500 tournaments. I’ve been here on the circuit for 25 years, since 2001.
“With ups and downs at the beginning, but I’m part of the furniture.
“I know I’ve been pushing myself to the limit for a long time, but these are my last weeks on the DP World Tour.”
Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media
X
YouTube
Main Image: Ross Kinnaird
Subsribe to Golf Digest Middle East Newsletter
