5 big names who just lost their DP World Tour card
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The regular season is done, but for some of golf’s biggest names, the real battle begins – finding somewhere to play in 2026.
Following the conclusion of the Genesis Championship in Korea, the chance for players at accumulate enough points to earn their DP World Tour cards for next season is now done.
Those who finished outside the top 115 after the event in Korea guaranteed themselves full status on the DP World Tour next season, but these five big names are among those who didn’t make it…
Big names who lost their DP World Tour card
Yannick Paul
Perhaps not a household name, but worth highlighting. Yannick Paul was on the verge of automatically qualifying for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome – and many thought he should have been handed a captain’s pick by Luke Donald. Two years later and the German doesn’t have a tour card.
Edoardo Molinari
Despite playing a pivotal role in Team Europe’s momentous Ryder Cup win at Bethpage, on the course 2025 has not been quite so successful for Edoardo Molinari.
He had a couple of top-10 finishes, at the Hero Indian Open and the Hainan Classic, but his season came to an end when he had surgery on a thumb injury following his withdrawal from the Nexo Championship.
He’s ruled himself out of being captain one day, and now he’s ruled himself out a DP World Tour membership for 2026.
Danny Willett
Former Masters champion Danny Willett is another who finds himself on the outside looking in. The 2016 Green Jacket winner spent the early part of the year playing on the PGA Tour before committing to his home circuit from July.
He has little to show for his efforts, though. Willett missed the cut at the Scottish Open, Irish Open, Dunhill Links and Open de Espana. Elsewhere, there was a T19 at the British Masters, a T46 at the European Masters and a T66 at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Willett was granted a membership extension for 2025 after the exemption from his Masters win expired, but it remains to be seen whether that will be the case for next season.
Eddie Pepperell
England’s Eddie Pepperell has split his time between the DP World Tour and the Hotel Planner Tour this season. The likeable 34-year-old has shown glimpses of good form but struggled to string it all together consistently.
He has notched a handful of top 10s on the second-tier circuit and finished in a tie for 10th at the DP World Tour’s Nexo Championship in Scotland, but it will be a season on the Hotel Planner Tour for Pepp.
Sergio Garcia
The Spaniard rejoined the DP World Tour at the end of 2024 in order to give himself a chance of earning a spot on the European team for the 2025 Ryder Cup. However, that didn’t quite go to plan for the LIV Golf member.
Garcia had enjoyed a strong start to his year on the breakaway circuit but wasn’t able to sustain that momentum and struggled to make an impact at the majors and on his few DP World Tour starts.
He missed the cut at the Masters, finished in a tie for 67th at the PGA Championship, and in a tie for 34th at The Open. Garcia also failed to make the weekend at the BMW International Open and could only muster a T39 at the Open de Espana.
That left him well outside the chasing pack, and having decided that he will not be playing any more golf this year, the DP World Tour confirmed to TG that the 45-year-old will drop out of the membership next year.
It also means that – unless he can play his way into the three majors for which he is not already exempt and perform well in them – the all-time leading Ryder Cup points scorer has all but ended his chances of making the 2027 team at Adare Manor before the qualification process has even started.
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Sergio Garcia will not retain his DP World Tour card in 2026.
