The DP World Tour Playoffs are set to feature some of the game’s biggest names, but there will be players who finished outside the top 70 in the field. Here’s why…
Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry have been added to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship field for the first of two season-ending DP World Tour playoffs.
They join the likes of Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntyre for the tournament at Yas Links next month.
From there, the Race to Dubai will finish at Jumeirah Golf Estates as McIlroy attempts to claim a fourth straight crown and seventh overall.
The top 70 qualify for the first of the two Playoffs in Abu Dhabi and that is then whittled down to 50 for the Dubai finale – but a quick glance at the rankings might leave some scratching their heads.
Lowry, for example, is well outside the top 70 in 107th, while Aberg sits 75th. How, then, have they already been confirmed in the field when neither are playing in this week’s Genesis Championship in South Korea – the last of the tour’s Back 9 swing?
The answer lies in a strategically placed loophole within the DP World Tour regulations.
With Europe’s stars plying their trade predominantly on the PGA Tour nowadays, the Tour created a rule to ensure its biggest names had every incentive to feature in the Playoffs.
Members of the European Ryder Cup team are eligible for the events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, meaning Lowry and Aberg are guaranteed a chance to fight for end-of-season honors.
Going further down the list, the rule could also benefit Sepp Straka, who is in 148th. As it stands, the Austrian, whose wife recently gave birth, is not in the field.
One player inside the top 70 who won’t be teeing up, meanwhile, is Jon Rahm. The LIV golfer has already decided to end his season and take an eyebrow-raising extended break from the game.
While some might think it undermines the competitive integrity of the big DP World Tour finale, it has become an accepted practice on the Wentworth-based circuit.
The big names attract sponsors and make people tune in, both of which are vital to the success of the Tour.
Fleetwood was another that was outside the top 70 but is now up to 25th following his victory at the inaugural DP World India Championship.
The Englishman took the Race to Dubai title back in 2017 and has the chance to do what few others have done before him and win the season-long battle on both major tours in the same year.
Should he pull it off, it would cap an incredible year for Fleetwood. In 2025, he picked up his first PGA Tour title at the Tour Championship, claiming the FedEx Cup in the process, and was Europe’s leading scorer at the Ryder Cup.
He also won for the first time with his son, Frankie, in attendance in India.
Equally, a McIlroy win in the same year he captured the career Grand Slam would be special. It would also take the Northern Irishman closer to Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight season-long crowns, something he has spoken about wanting to achieve on several occasions.
