The 2024 DP World Tour season is heading towards its conclusion, and while the Race To Dubai can only be won by a lone golfer, there is another particularly lucrative prize being hunted by 10 eligible competitors – a PGA Tour card for 2025.
Confirmed ahead of the 2023 season, the ’10 Cards Initiative’ was a byproduct of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour’s strategic alliance which presented the leading decade of European-based players with the chance to earn playing rights in America for the following campaign.
Anyone who is not already exempt and finishes among the leading golfers on the Race To Dubai rankings can pick one up, helping them playing for significantly higher prize purses against many of the world’s very best.
Matthieu Pavon and Robert MacIntyre were among the first beneficiaries of the scheme, with both going on to secure maiden PGA Tour titles in their full debut rookie campaign.
Pavon triumphed at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines while MacIntyre picked up two victories – the first arriving at the Canadian Open and the second being the co-sanctioned Scottish Open.
(From L to R) Dougie MacIntyre, Robert MacIntyre, and Shannon Hartley pose next to the RBC Canadian Open trophy
(Image credit: Getty Images)
But for 2024, there is a new wave of eager pros who are jostling for position in not only the Race To Dubai, but also the race to the PGA Tour.
Currently leading the way in the ’10 Cards Initiative’ is South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, who sits in second in the Race To Dubai behind Rory McIlroy. Lawrence has four runner-up finishes this term but has, remarkably, not yet won an event. He did finish fourth after an excellent showing at the 152nd Open Championship, however.
Nevertheless, he has a gap of more than 200 points to Jesper Svensson behind him – the second man in line for a 2025 PGA Tour card as the third-placed golfer in the Race To Dubai. The Swede claimed victory at the Singapore Classic while also ending second at three other tournaments.
Recent British Masters champion Niklas Norgaard vaulted up the Race To Dubai rankings after his debut success, and he is narrowly in front of Sebastian Soderberg on the list for a PGA Tour card. Soderberg has been in the top-five on five occasions but failed to win – missing out in extraordinary circumstances…
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