This Week in Golf: Challenge Tour takes centre stage in Spain where 20 players will qualify for the DP World Tour

The DP World Tour takes a short break this week before the climax of the season-long Race to Dubai at next week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge.

After that, the top 50 in the Rankings qualify for the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai at Jumeirah Golf Estates where they will play for a total purse of $16 million over two weeks.

On the PGA Tour, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg leads the field in both alphabetical order as well as prominence in this week’s $8.2 million World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico.

He is currently primarily pursuing his career on the PGA Tour and stands 99th on the FedEx Cup Rankings and 58th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

A definite highlight of the week is the Challenge Tour hosting their ROLEX Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A. To be held at Club de Golf Alcanad, it is the final event on the season-long Road to Mallorca in Spain.

A field of 45 players qualify for this season-ending event with the top 20 players in the Rankings gaining their playing privileges through promotion to the DP World Tour.

It can be life-changing for these players to get onto the DP World Tour.

Those who have started their careers and graduated through the Challenge Tour include Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Nicolas Colsaerts, Louis Oosthuizen, Tyrrell Hatton and Dubai resident Tommy Fleetwood.

Those in the mix and already assured of their 2024 season cards are Matteo Manassero, Alex Fitzpatrick and Ricardo Gouveia who are managed by Dubai-based Spotlight The Agency, who are in 8th, 9th and 10th places respectively on the current Rankings.

A statistic worth reflecting on is that 212 former Challenge Tour players have registered 566 wins on the DP World Tour – a proven pathway on the global golfing ladder and their mantra, ‘Where Heroes Are Made.’

The Legends Tour travels to Las Manga, Spain for the Farmfoods European Senior Masters.

Last week’s dominant winner on tour James Kingston (RSA) is one of the favourities with other marquee players in the field being Paul Lawrie, Michael Campbell, Ian Woosnam, Phillip Price and Peter Baker.

Schedule

PGA Tour

Thursday 2nd – Sunday 5th November, 2023

World Wide Technology Championship

Venue: Los Cabos, Mexico

Purse: $8.2 million

Asian Tour

Thursday 2nd – Sunday 5th November, 2023

Volvo China Open

Venue: Hidden Grace Golf Club, China

Venue: Taiheiyo Club Minori Course, Omitama, Ibaraki, Japan