PGA Tour Members Who Lose Status Will Have New Playing Opportunity on DP World Tour

The DP World Tour announced new exemption categories for PGA Tour players.

Starting in 2024, players who lose their PGA Tour cards will have the opportunity to become DP World Tour members and compete in Europe. 

The DP World Tour announced Monday that players who finish from No. 126 to 200 on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Fall points list will have the opportunity to accept DP World Tour membership in 2024. Players in the top 125 retain their PGA Tour cards. Cameron Champ, Jimmy Walker, Aaron Wise and Harry Higgs are just a few names currently outside that mark. 

If players choose to accept the opportunity for DP World Tour membership, they will be part of a new category in the tour’s exemption list, “Category 12.” On any given week on the DP World Tour, only five PGA Tour players in the category will be able to compete, in order to preserve available spots for existing DP World Tour members. 

Some familiar names from the PGA Tour could be seen in DP World Tour fields next year :: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Last year, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour extended their partnership and announced that the top 10 DP World Tour players at the end of each season will earn PGA Tour cards. 

“Our Ten Cards initiative will give the opportunity for DP World Tour members to excel on the PGA Tour next season and this new membership opportunity announced today will give PGA Tour members the chance to do exactly the same on our Tour,” said Keith Pelley, chief executive of the DP World Tour. 

In addition to giving PGA Tour players access to DP World Tour membership if they lose their cards, all other PGA Tour members will be able to earn Race to Dubai points on a new "non-member" points list. If a player competes in four or more tournaments, they could qualify for the 2024 DP World Tour playoffs its bonus pool at the end of the season. Generally, the new pathways allow for increased mobility between tours. 

“When we announced our Strategic Alliance with the PGA Tour in November 2021, one of the prime objective was to give as many opportunities as possible to members of both Tours, and this is another perfect example of how this is working,” said David Howell, DP World Tour tournament committee chairman. 

The PGA Tour schedule will feature eight “signature events” with fields of 80 players in 2024, with 36 total regular-season tournaments. The top 50 players from the 2022-2023 FedEx Cup are automatically qualified for the signature events.