When the DP World Tour strengthened its alliance with the PGA Tour to include 10 cards for the US circuit, it was seen as a controversial introduction.
Critics stated that a business losing its ten best talents every year was a bad move, while supporters believed it was beneficial for the membership to get the chance to play on a tour with greater financial and ranking opportunities.
We’re now into the third season of the agreement and there have been some big successes so far, notably Robert MacIntyre and Matthieu Pavon in 2024 who won three times between them and took home a combined total of roughly $11m.
However, this year’s graduates have not had anywhere close to that success with all nine new PGA Tour members missing out on FedEx Playoffs. The other man is Tom McKibbin, who joined LIV Golf and has arguably had the most success of the lot.
We looked through the records of the DP World Tour’s PGA Tour rookies this year and the numbers do not make for great reading, with all nine failing to win, falling in the world rankings and earning less money than they did on the European circuit last year.
It could certainly be argued that they would have had better seasons staying at home in Europe – but that could easily be countered with MacIntyre and Pavon’s records in 2024.
The best performer on the PGA Tour this year from the DP World Tour 10 was Rasmus Hojgaard, who was the only player on the list to finish inside the top 100 of the FedEx Cup at the end of the regular season in 85th spot.
Rasmus Hojgaard has been the top performer on the PGA Tour this year from 2024’s DP World Tour graduates
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Hojgaard was also the only player to record a runner-up finish, which came at the Zurich Classic alongside his brother Nicolai.
The Dane was only one of two DP World Tour graduates who earned over $1m alongside Jesper Svensson. The Swede was the second-best performer of the graduates, finishing 110th in the FedEx Cup for the regular season thanks to 15 made cuts from 21 starts that included four top-25 finishes.
The nine men who went to the PGA Tour made a combined 153 starts, making a respectable 85 cuts with a small return of just seven top-10s.
Sweden’s Jesper Svensson is the second-highest DPWT graduate in the FedEx Cup standings
(Image…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Latest from Golf Monthly…