Decision to cut DP World Tour cards for 2027 explained in detail

Changes that will lead to a reduction in the number of DP World Tour cards on offer for the 2027 season are being made to allow members to have “more-balanced balanced playing opportunities”.

Instead of the top 110 on the Race to Dubai Rankings being the cut-off, the top 100 in the standings at the end of the 2026 campaign will retain full playing privileges.

In addition, the number of DP World Tour cards up for grabs through the Hotel Planner Tour is being reduced from 20 to 15 while it will be the top 15 and ties instead of the top 20 and ties securing main tour status from the Qualifying School.

The number of cards for the DP World Tour in 2027 is being reduced through a number of changes introduced for the 2026 campaign | Getty Images

“I think the logic was that the schedule has changed a lot and we needed to kind of move to reflect that,” Guy Kinnings, the European Tour Group’s chief executive officer told The Scotsman. “What you want to do is provide more-balanced playing opportunities. If you have earned your card, you have greater playing certainty with the approach we have taken.”

In total, it will mean around 20 fewer card holders for the 2027 campaign, but the hope is that it will allow players to start out with a better idea about when they will be getting into tournaments.

“There was recognition that it was time to make some changes and there was no point in just doing some tinkering,” added Kinnings, who took over the reins from Keith Pelley in April 2024 following the Canadian’s return to his homeland to become President and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE).

“We talked to the tournament committee, who felt strongly about that. So we’ve had little working groups working on it all year and, if you can give those players who have earned their playing privilege through whatever different route it may be, that greater level of scheduling certainty and more balanced opportunities, that’s what we are aspiring to.

European Tour Group chief executive officer Guy Kinnings, right, pictured with chairman Eric Nicoli along with Matthew Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy at the presentation ceremony at the end of the 2025 campaign in Dubai | Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

“To be fair to the tournament committee, they worked really hard on this and had some strong views and we have worked on it and done lots of scenario planning trying to get it right. It’s always evolving, but that’s the logic behind it.”

Through its Strategic Alliance with the PGA Tour, a new card category that opened up playing opportunities for players finishing in positions 126 to 200 on the US circuit’s FedEx Cup Fall points list was introduced two seasons ago.

‘We will monitor how these changes go’

“You’ve got to listen and we do that all the time,” said Kinnings of the DP World Tour being a members’ organisation. “Nothing we do will please everyone. At the end of the day, we can do all the clever stuff we do, but we are there purely to work for those members. That’s my job and everyone’s job. You’ve got to listen to them and you’ve got to try and give them every chance.

“It’s about letting them be in a position where, if they play well enough, then they get the benefit they deserve and that’s distinctly why we looked at it. We wanted to make significant changes to make that work and we will monitor how those go. We won’t please everyone, but we can try and please the majority.”