There’s 1 thing missing from the PGA Tour’s strategic alliance

Last Sunday’s season finales on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour showcased one in every of the new fruits of the two excursions’ strategic alliance.

For the first time, the 10 highest finishers in the DP World Tour’s 2023 Race to Dubai not in any other case exempt earned PGA Tour playing cards for the 2024 season.

This means gamers like famous Ryder Cup snub Adrian Meronk, Scottish Open darling Robert MacIntyre and Australia’s Ryan Fox will all, ought to they settle for, be taking part in amongst the sport’s finest in the United States subsequent season as full PGA Tour members.

Nicolai Hojgaard, who received the DP World Tour Championship, and Min Woo Lee are two different DP World Tour members who earned PGA Tour playing cards by means of Special Temporary membership this season.

And whereas we’ll see loads of Nicolai on the PGA Tour subsequent season, we possible received’t see as a lot of his twin brother, Rasmus.

Rasmus entered the DP World Tour’s last occasion final week in a precarious place as the Tenth-highest-ranked participant in the Race to Dubai who didn’t have PGA Tour membership and was projected to carry that spot coming into the fourth spherical.

“I have two choices given the situation I find myself in,” Rasmus told Golf Digest final Friday, earlier than the weekend in Dubai. “I can either cope with it or not. I came out today in a good mood. I knew I needed a low score that would carry me up the leaderboard. That Nicolai already has his card doesn’t really affect me. Obviously, I want to join him over there. It would make traveling and playing a lot more fun. But the pressure is not coming from there. It is more what I am demanding of myself. It is a big goal to make it onto the PGA Tour. And I’m in the middle of it now. We’ll just have to see how the next two days play out. I’ll be giving it everything I have.”

Rasmus shot 65-69 on the weekend at the DP World Tour Championship to complete T11, but it surely wasn’t sufficient. Matthieu Pavon birdied the last 4 holes of his last spherical to leap Rasmus, each in the match and the season-long standings.

Rasmus ended up missing his PGA Tour card by lower than 30 factors.

What makes issues worse, if Rasmus nonetheless needed to earn membership for 2024 and be part of his brother, his choices are extraordinarily restricted.

With the PGA Tour season additionally concluding final weekend at the RSM Classic and the Korn Ferry Tour season ending final month, the solely remaining PGA Tour playing cards accessible are the 5 at stake at subsequent month’s PGA Tour Q-School.

However, regardless of being the No. 86 participant in the world and ending 18th in the Race to Dubai standings, Rasmus has no exemption into the Final Stage of PGA Tour Q-School. He was exempt into the second stage by advantage of his World Ranking, however the entry deadline was October ninth. A PGA Tour spokesperson confirmed he was not in the area as of Tuesday.

The solely exemption into Q-School for DP World Tour members is for the First Stage, which was in mid-October.

That’s in distinction to different world excursions, equivalent to the South African Sunshine Tour, the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Korean PGA Tour, whose prime factors leaders are exempted into Final Stage. While the DP World Tour awards 10 PGA Tour playing cards, it will make sense, for many who simply fall quick to be given one other likelihood at Q-School in the event that they so selected.

Rasmus, like Jorge Fernández Valdés, the No. 31 finisher on the Korn Ferry factors record, completed only one spot outdoors a PGA Tour card. But Fernández Valdés, like the remainder of the gamers who completed 31-60 in the Korn Ferry Tour standings, is ready to go straight to the last stage of Q-School.

This is the first 12 months of DP World Tour gamers being awarded PGA Tour playing cards, in addition to the first 12 months those that end 126-200 in the FedEx Cup standings can take up DP World Tour membership, so there are sure to be some kinks. It’s additionally the first time in 10 years that Q-School is as soon as once more awarding PGA Tour membership.

There’s additionally no assure Rasmus would safe his PGA Tour by means of Q-School, however those that miss PGA Tour membership by mere factors by means of different means are given the likelihood to strive.

If the PGA Tour’s strategic alliance with the DP World Tour really goes each methods, then those that simply miss out on PGA Tour playing cards by means of the DP World Tour must be granted exemptions into the last stage of Q-School.