Find out who is making their debut at this week's DP World Tour Championship - and how they qualified.
The field is set for the final event of the 2020 Race to Dubai, with 20 players making their debut at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
In order of where they currently stand in the 2020 Race to Dubai Rankings, find out who is playing the Earth Course for the first time, and how they made it to the season-ending event.
Collin Morikawa. #3
Collin Morikawa is the highest placed debutant in this week’s tournament, and currently sits in third position in the rankings behind Patrick Reed and Tommy Fleetwood – giving him a chance to end the week as the first American to be crowned Race to Dubai champion.
The World Number Seven debuted at 113th in the rankings following a tie for 42nd at the WGC Mexico, and he quickly improved that position to 79th after finishing in a tie for 20th at the WGC FedEx St Jude Invitational.
But his biggest move of the season was a few weeks later during his first Major victory on his PGA Championship debut – which saw him claim the top spot in the Race to Dubai and make history with the lowest closing 36 hole score in a Major championship.
Rasmus Højgaard: #11
After two victories in his rookie season on Tour, Rasmus Højgaard will head into the final event of the year in 13th place, and is very much part of the conversation surrounding Rookie of the Year.
Højgaard, who has spent almost the entire season inside the top 20 in the standings, became the third youngest player in history to win on the European Tour at 18 years and 271 days when he claimed the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on just his fifth start.
Following the Tour’s return in July Højgaard recaptured that impressive form, recording four top 10s in a row to move firmly back inside the top ten on the Race to Dubai. It began with a runner-up finish at the Betfred British Masters, which he followed with a tie for 6th at the Hero Open, a third place finish at the English Championship, and his second Tour victory in just his 15th start at the ISPS HANDA UK Championship.
Sungjae Im: #15
An affiliate member of the Tour, Sungjae Im will make his first appearance in Dubai at 15th in the Race to Dubai standings.
Im entered the Race to Dubai in 90th position following a top 30 at the WGC Mexico Championship, and re-entered the top 100 in the rankings a few months later with a tie for 22nd at the U.S. Open.
His biggest move up the rankings occurred during an impressive runner-up finish at the Masters in November, moving him up to 18th in the Official World Golf Ranking and 14th in the Race to Dubai.
Sami Valimaki: #18
Another early season rookie success story, Qualifying School graduate Sami Valimaki will enter the final event of the year in 18th place in the Race to Dubai.
Valimaki had a slow beginning to his season, but in just his sixth appearance on Tour he became the fourth Finnish player in history to win when he prevailed in a play-off in Oman over Brandon Stone to earn his maiden victory. It moved him from outside the top 100 in the standings to 13th, which was a position he maintained until the Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood.
The Finn then followed his missed cut with three top 10s in a row to hit a high of 10th in the standings, and comes into the last tournament of the year having not finished worse than 18th in his last four starts on Tour – which includes ties for 13th at both the BMW PGA Championship and last week’s Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World.
Antoine Rozner: #24
Like Højgaard and Valimaki, Rozner made a quick start to his first season on the European Tour with a runner up finish to the Dane in Mauritius, which saw him get to a high of fifth place on the 2020 Race to Dubai.
Across the year, the Frenchman also finished third in Valderrama, recorded three further top 10s and missed just three cuts in his rookie season before claiming his maiden victory during last week’s Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World.
His win moved him from 55th to 24th in the rankings, and although Rozner was already leading the race for Challenge Tour Graduate of the Year, it also placed him firmly in the contention to be considered for Rookie of the Year.
John Catlin: #30
One of the biggest successes to come from the Tour's return to golf following the four month break due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been John Catlin, who comes to Dubai in 30th on the 2020 Race to Dubai.
The American made his return with a tie for 6th at the Euram Bank Open, and a further top 10 at the Celtic Classic, but it was his first Tour victory at the Estrella Damn Andalucia Masters that vaulted him from outside the top 100 and into the top 40. His second victory two weeks later at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open then helped him rise to a high of 14th.
He missed the cut in the next two Rolex events to drop back outside of the top 20, and will make his first start this week since the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Masahiro Kawamura: #38
Masahiro Kawamura missed the cut in his first start of the season, but a top 20 in the first Rolex Series event of the year – the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship – saw him climb to 43rd in the standings.
The Japanese star then spent much of the season outside the top 50 in the rankings, but a tie for 20th at the BMW PGA Championship and a runner-up finish to Robert MacIntyre at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown moved him to a high of 35th. He will now head to Dubai for the first time in 38th position following a tie for 23rd in his most recent start at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
Gavin Green: #42
After starting his season with a tie for 15th at the South African Open, Green continued to impress in his next four events prior to the break in the season, where his 3rd place finish at the Saudi International saw him reach a high of 11th in the 2020 Race to Dubai.
He has remained inside the top 50 of the standings for almost the entirety of the season, and while briefly slipping to 43rd, he moved back inside the top 40 following a third top 10 of the year at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown. He will make his first start this week at the DP World Tour Championship at 42nd in the rankings.
Laurie Canter: #44
Like Green, Canter started his season with a top 15 in South Africa – although his was for 14th place at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, it saw him debut at 12th on the 2020 Race to Dubai.
Although Canter slipped outside of the top 150 after the first event back, he quickly regained form and began to consistently threaten the leaderboards – recording a top 10s at the Hero Open and ISPS HANDA Wales Open to move back inside the top 100, and rising to 40th after the first of two runner-up finishes at the Portugal Masters.
His next runner-up, at the Italian Open, moved him to 33rd position, and he moved to 31st the following week in Cyprus. Canter has played one event since then, which resulted in him slipping to 44th ahead of the season-end.
Kalle Samooja: #46
Kalle Samooja had a slow start to the season until a third place finish at the Qatar Masters saw him move significantly up the rankings to just outside the top 50, where he remained for a large part of the season.
A ninth place finish at the ASI Scottish Open pushed him back up to 64th, but the most important result of his year came with an agonisingly close play-off loss to Callum Shinkwin at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open. He reached a high of 36th to all but guarantee his place in the DP World Tour Championship, and just two outings since sees him arrive at 46th in the rankings.
Marcus Armitage: #53
Marcus Armitage was another player to make a quick start to the 2020 Race to Dubai, and will make his debut at 53rd in the rankings.
His third start of the year set the tone with a third place finish at the first South African Open to move him up to 12th in the standings, and although he fell back outside of the top 50 for a large chunk of the season, he did briefly re-enter it when he recorded the second of four top 10s this season at the ISPS HANDA UK Championship, which moved the Englishman to 47th place.
Armitage has since strung together an impressive run of results (seventh at the AXA Scottish Championship, 10th at the Italian Open, 12th at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open and 14th at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown) to consistently maintain his position in the rankings, and his final top 10 of the year came just two weeks ago – a tie for 6th at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
Wilco Nienbaer: #58
The young South African player will make his debut at 58th in the 2020 Race to Dubai, having hit form at the perfect time to guarantee his place in the field.
Nienaber caught attention when he finished 24th in the first event of the season, and he took full advantage of his playing opportunities when the Tour restarted in July, finishing 4th at the English Championship to reenter the top 100, and solidifying that position with a tie for 6th at the Estrella Damm Andalucia Masters and a tie for 14th at the Portugal Masters.
But the biggest move for Nienaber came over the recent South Africa swing: He came close to victory with a runner-up finish at the Joburg Open, and finished 12th and 11th respectively at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and South African Open to move up to 58th.
Sean Crocker: #60
The Zimbabwe-born American player will make his debut at the DP World Tour Championship this week, having played his way into the field with impressive results over the past two weeks – including a runner-up finish at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and a tie for 22nd at last week’s Golf in Dubai Championship.
Prior to that, Crocker’s season had been something of a mixed bag: He missed the cut in his first event and went on to debut in the Race to Dubai at 83rd following a tie for 43rd at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, but fell out of the top 100 in the standings just once thanks to top 10s at the Hero Open, AXA Scottish Championship and Alfred Dunhill Championship.
Will Besseling: #65
Besseling may not have a full European Tour card, but that hasn’t stopped him from making it into the final event of the year at 65th in the Race to Dubai rankings.
The Dutch player had a near perfect start to the season with a third place at the South Africa Open to debut at number three in the standings, and despite struggling over the next couple of months to match that feat, he remained inside the top 100 the entire season.
With the European Tour restart in Austria, Besseling came close again with another third place at the Austrian Open, and a further tie for third at the Portugal Masters saw him rise briefly back inside the top 50. Since then, Besseling has had three top 20s, the latest of which came at the Alfred Dunhill Championship two weeks ago.
Connor Syme
Connor Syme, who graduated from the Challenge Tour last year, has remained in the frame to qualify for the DP World Tour Championship for the entirety of the 2020 season.
He made a big impact early with an 11th place finish at the Alfred Dunhill Championship to enter the Race to Dubai inside the top 10, before adding ties for 9th at the AFRAsia Bank Mauritius Open and 22nd at the South African Open.
The Scot also looked close to victory during the UK Swing with three top 10s in a row to move back inside the top 50, but a drop-off in form saw him begin to slip backwards until a top 10 in last week’s South African Open guaranteed him a spot in the final event of the year at 67th.
Grant Forrest: #68
Like Syme, a consistent season put Forrest in position to qualify for the majority of the season, and he heads to the DP World Tour Championship just one place back in 68th.
A tie for fourth in the second event– the AFRAsia Bank Mauritius Open helped him to a season high of 10th in the standings, and he kept himself firmly inside the top 50 when he followed it with a tie for 16th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, 27th at the Saudi International and a second top 10 at the Oman Open.
Forrest seemingly struggled a little when the Tour restarted but picked up form again with a top 20 at the ASI Scottish Open, and enters this week having finished in a tie for sixth at last week’s Golf in Dubai Championship.
Shaun Norris: #70
After falling back to 86th in November, Norris made a crucial move up the standings with a third place finish at the Joburg Open that helped secure his position in the final field of the year at 70th on the 2020 Race to Dubai.
Norris began the year in 99th position in the standings after a tie for 36th at the South African Open, which he followed with an impressive tie for 6th at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to claim 12th position in the rankings early in the season. He remained inside the top 100 for the remainder of the year but a best of 18th between then and the South African swing left him needing a big result to guarantee his place in this week's field - which he delivered.
Garrick Higgo: #71
Without a full European Tour card, Garrick Higgo had played in just four events on the 2020 season before he prevailed for his maiden victory at the Portugal Masters, which vaulted him 182nd to 81st in the rankings.
The South African quickly built on that form with top 30s at both the ASI Scottish Open and BMW PGA Championship, before a third place finish at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open moved him into 62nd place. He will now make his debut at 71st in the standings.
Victor Hovland: #117
Viktor Hovland started the season with a tie for 23rd at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, but despite ties for 33rd at the U.S Open and 13th at the Masters, a lack of counting starts left him at 117th in the rankings. However, as an affiliate member that is 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking, Hovland still qualified for the final event of the year – he just won’t be able to end it as European Number One.
Jazz Janewattanond: #133
Along with Hovland, Jazz Janewattanond was one of four players to qualify for the season-ending tournament from their Official World Golf Ranking, and enters the final event of the season at 133rd on the 2020 Race to Dubai.
The Thai golfer made appearances in two of the three year’s Rolex Series events to date, and had a best finish on the European Tour this season of third at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open – which moved him to a high of 11th in the standings.
