The DP World Tour reaches its 44th and final event of the 2024 Race to Dubai schedule this week as the top 50 available players tee it up at Jumeirah Golf Estates on the Rolex Series. Here are your five things to know about the DP World Tour Championship.
What McIlroy needs to do to win sixth Race to Dubai
Unlike last season when Rory McIlroy arrived in Dubai for the season-ending showpiece assured of lifting the Harry Vardon Trophy, there is still work to be done in his quest for Race to Dubai glory. In his 12 starts this campaign, he has won once at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January, finished runner-up four times and recorded three further top five finishes. The latest of those came at last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship as he strengthened his position at the summit of the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex. With one event to go, there is just one player who can deny him becoming European Number One for a sixth time: Thriston Lawrence. The South African has five runner-up finishes and five more top tens but knows a victory is the minimum this week if he is to have a chance of surpassing McIlroy, who has a lead of 1,785.02 points. Even then, a first Rolex Series title for Lawrence wouldn’t be enough if McIlroy finishes solo 11th or better.
· READ MORE: Rory McIlroy ‘in a good position’ for sixth Race to Dubai title
Career-changing dual membership with PGA TOUR up for grabs
In addition to the season-long champion, the DP World Tour Championship will also determine the top ten players on the Race to Dubai Rankings (not otherwise exempt) who will be eligible to claim dual membership and a PGA TOUR card next year. Lawrence leads that list, followed by Rasmus Højgaard, Paul Waring, Niklas Norgaard, Matteo Manassero, Jesper Svensson, Thorbjørn Olesen, Rikuya Hoshino, Sebastian Söderberg and Jordan Smith. Tom McKibbin is the man looking in from the outside, with Guido Migliozzi also around the bubble ahead of what could be a career-changing week for so many players. Statistically, everyone including Francesco Laporta – the last man in the field – can play their way into the top ten. Of the ten players who benefited from the formal pathway to compete on the PGA TOUR last season, Matthieu Pavon and Robert MacIntyre both won titles and reached the Tour Championship. They were two of six to retain their full playing privileges stateside, alongside Ryan Fox, Victor Perez, Sami Välimäki and Ryo Hisatsune. Who will join them stateside next season?
• READ MORE: Who is battling for dual membership on the PGA TOUR?
Inside the field
The fifth and final Rolex Series event of the season features the top 50 available players on the Race to Dubai Rankings, with 2023 Ryder Cup-winning teammates Ludvig Åberg and Jon Rahm missing through injury or otherwise. World Number Three McIlroy is the top ranked player and one of four Major Champions teeing it up alongside Adam Scott, Shane Lowry and Justin Rose. They are joined by Rolex Series winners Billy Horschel, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre, Min Woo Lee and its most recent member of the roll of honour in Waring. More than half of the field consists of DP World Tour winners this season, with 27 in total on show in Dubai. Of those, 11 are first-time winners, with France’s David Ravetto among those having earned his DP World Tour card through Qualifying School last year. Matteo Manassero, Jesper Svensson, Joe Dean and Angel Hidalgo have all been stories of the season and will hope to enjoy fitting finishes to their campaigns.
· To view the full field, click here.
Rolex Series history over the Earth course
Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth course – part of the European Tour Destinations network of venues – will host the DP World Tour Championship for the 16th time this week, having first done so in 2009. Eight years later the event became part of the Rolex Series, and it has continued to deliver excitement and headline champions. Nicolai Højgaard won the title last year but missed out on having the chance to defend his title as he finished 59th on the Rankings after the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. All four winners of this season’s Rolex Series events are in Dubai though, with past champion McIlroy hoping to win the title for the first time since 2012.
Setting a new standard for sustainability
Multiple innovations are to provide a more sustainable tournament experience at Jumeirah Golf Estates this week. A big focus of the DP World Tour’s commitment to help reduce direct carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2040 has been water conservation, and the tournament is continuing its ban on plastic water bottles for the fourth year running. In collaboration with No More Bottles, free water walls installed around the course have dispensed more than 80,000 litres of water to date, resulting in a saving of over 120,000 500ml bottles. A buggy will also be travelling around the course offering water refills for the first time, which can be tracked via the player tracker on the Tour’s app. Working with official waste management company, Averda, the DP World Tour Championship will attempt to have zero waste going to landfill this year – a first for the tournament. This will also be the first year that spectators will be able to track and offset their own travel to and from the tournament, utilising the DP World Tour’s fan emissions offsetting tool that launched in May.
• For a full breakdown of the sustainability activations this year, click here.
