By Mathieu Wood
Featuring new initiatives, the DP World Tour's 2024 Race to Dubai has produced a series of fascinating plot lines.
Across five global swings and the new Back 9, 42 events have been played, excluding the Olympic Games which did not count towards the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, with DP World Tour members competing for an overall record prize fund of $148.5 million.
Ahead of the DP World Tour Play-Offs in the United Arab Emirates, we select six stand-out storylines to emerge from the regular season.
The Manassero renaissance
A two-time winner on the Challenge Tour in 2023, Matteo Manassero has continued his resurgence in emphatic fashion on his return to the DP World Tour this season. Victory at the Jonsson Workwear Open in South Africa in March ended his near 11-year wait for a fifth DP World Tour title and he has gone from strength to strength. Four top tens followed, before he finished in the top five at the Amgen Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship over back-to-back weeks. Those performances earned the praise of Rory McIlroy, who played alongside Manassero in the final round at Royal County Down and Wentworth Club and was full of admiration for his return to form. “It’s unbelievable. I don’t think you would find one player on tour that isn’t so happy for him. To be like a young phenom and then lose your game, and go play the Alps Tour and play; I guess the character that you need to do that. It’s really great to see. He’s such a nice guy, level-headed and good to see him back to where he belongs.” As McIlroy alludes to, Manassero had dropped of Tour by his late 20s, and even stopped playing golf altogether but he now finds himself on the cusp of earning dual membership status and playing on the PGA TOUR next year.
Hidalgo’s ‘David vs Goliath’ win over Rahm
There have been many dramatic finishes along the way this season, but perhaps none more so than the climax to the acciona Open de España presented by Madrid. Having led since the opening day, Angel Hidalgo was part of an-Spanish threeball in the final round alongside Jon Rahm – who was bidding for a record fourth title at his national open – and David Puig. In what was his 80th DP World Tour appearance, the charismatic 26-year-old impressed with his shot making as he went head-to-head down the stretch with former World Number One and two-time Major champion. Perhaps what stood out above all was Hidalgo’s ability to overcome the potential ‘what if’ moment of missing a short-range birdie putt on the final hole of regulation play and embrace the moment at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. On holing a birdie putt on the second extra hole, there was an outpouring of joy from Hidalgo at securing his maiden DP World Tour. And what made it perhaps more remarkable was that this was a player who had watched Rahm as a fan at the very same event a few years earlier.
Former delivery driver Dean’s incredible journey
There is no doubting that life has change immeasurably for Joe Dean over the last 12 months. After coming through all three stages of Qualifying School last year, the Englishman did not tee it up on the DP World Tour until the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in February due to the financial demands of life on tour and upon returning from the Middle East, he went back to his job delivering groceries for Morrisons. However, those days are a thing of the past as on his very next start he finished tied second in Kenya and he has not looked back since. Four top five finishes have since followed, including a play-off defeat at the KLM Open, an appearance at The Open Championship, and he has missed just two cuts on the Race to Dubai to ensure he will play in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai. As if all that wasn’t enough to make headlines, he generated great intrigue when he revealed he doesn’t head to the range before a round, instead choosing to focus on chipping and putting in the build-up, and that hypnotherapy has helped his breakout campaign.
MacIntyre fulfils national open dream
Since earning dual membership via last season’s Race to Dubai Rankings, the Scot has taken his game to new heights. But it wasn’t immediate as he revealed early in the campaign how he felt lonely as he adjusted to life stateside after leaving his Oban home. But his year took a turn for the better in dramatic fashion as he won the RBC Canadian Open to win his first PGA TOUR title, with his father Dougie by his side as his caddie. Not long after that he claimed the title he had long sought – his national open. After being denied success at the Genesis Scottish Open at last year’s edition by Rory McIlroy, this time it was his moment to take the acclaim as he birdied the last to win his first Rolex Series title and spark wild celebrations in front of his adoring fans. In doing so, he became the first Scottish winner of the event since Colin Montgomerie 25 years ago and climbed to a career-high 16th on the Official World Golf Ranking. Since then, he has finished tied fifth at the Amgen Irish Open and will be targeting more strong results in the Middle East over the coming fortnight as he looks to qualify for next year’s European Ryder Cup team again.
McIlroy shines through adversity
A sixth Race to Dubai crown surely awaits the Northern Irishman. After finishing runner-up to Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood at the Dubai Invitational, where he let slip a one-shot lead on the final hole, he bounced back immediately from that disappointment by winning a record-breaking fourth Hero Dubai Desert Classic title. And ever since then he has remained top of the season-long rankings with a host of strong results. Among those have been three further runner-up finishes, including over back-to-back weeks at the Amgen Irish Open on home soil in Northern Ireland and at the BMW PGA Championship in Surrey. The former of those saw Rasmus Højgaard produced a brilliant finish – four birdies in the last five holes – to chase him down at Royal County Down, while Billy Horschel denied him at the latter in a play-off at Wentworth. There was further heartbreak earlier in the year as he missed out on ending his ten-year wait for a Major victory at the U.S. Open, as short missed putts at the 16th and 18th saw him lose out by one shot to American Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst.
Svensson’s rise from Challenge Tour to PGA TOUR in 12 months
Like fellow Challenge Tour graduate Manassero, Sweden’s Jesper Svensson is on the cusp of earning playing rights on the PGA TOUR for 2025 after a brilliant rookie campaign on the DP World Tour. After two second-place finishes in South Africa and Bahrain, the 28-year-old won his maiden DP World Tour title at the Porsche Singapore Classic as he overcame Kiradech Aphibarnrat in a play-off in March. That result helped him earn an invite to the US PGA Championship where he made his Major debut at Valhalla Golf Club. After missing the cut at The Open in July, he returned to the form of earlier in the year with consecutive top five finishes at the D+D REAL Czech Masters, where he led after 54 holes, and Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo. Those performances and the prospect of him continuing his progression have put him in the conversations as someone who could force their way into Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup team next year. In the top ten for driving distance on Tour, he is certainly one to watch out for over the coming two weeks as he looks to cap his year with strong finishes in the Rolex Series double header.
