Two-time DP World Tour winner Dan Brown claimed a two-stroke victory at last year’s BMW International Open. It was an emotional triumph for the Englishman. After all, the win helped him earn one of the 10 PGA Tour memberships on offer. However, with the PGA Tour’s fall season now underway, the 31-year-old has decided to relinquish his card after health and injury issues forced him to reconsider his plans. 

“Due to the recent health and injury issues, I have made the difficult decision to not go back to the @pgatour for the rest of the 2026 season,” Brown wrote in an Instagram post. “Having had a few days to think about things, and after Wentworth, I don’t feel as though I’m in the right place mentally and physically to see things out the way I would’ve liked.”

It’s worth noting that the English golfer looked like he would finish 11th in the race for a PGA Tour card, just outside the positions that were eligible to earn one of the cards. However, when fellow Englishman Laurie Canter decided to rejoin the now-troubled LIV Golf before the 2026 season, that helped Brown secure the PGA Tour card instead. Regardless, Brown’s first full PGA Tour season proved challenging.

He started promisingly with a T19 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, followed by finishes like T30 at the Farmers Insurance Open, T40 at the Cognizant Classic, and a strong T13 at the team-format Zurich Classic of New Orleans. However, consistency eluded him amid frequent missed cuts, a T75 at the PGA Championship, and a T47 at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. A bright spot came at the Open Championship, where he finished T18.

“Huge thank you to everyone in America who made me feel welcome,” he added in the post. “I’ve been fortunate enough to have played some amazing golf tournaments and made some new friends along the way 👏🏼 .”

Before making his latest decision, Brown was well outside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup rankings. In hindsight, the move should have been obvious. Dan Brown has been dealing with a nagging wrist injury for some time, which has limited his schedule and contributed to his recent struggles. It forced him to withdraw from the British Masters in late August.

In an Instagram post at the time, he explained that the pain in his wrist was “just far too much,” and that he’d hoped rest would help. But tournament golf came around too soon, and he was set to get an injection in hopes of being ready for the Irish Open. However, Brown ultimately decided against competing there as well. The same wrist problem led him to withdraw from the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in mid-September.

Now, the Northallerton native will play exclusively on the DP World Tour.

“So with that, I will be playing the rest of the year on @dpworldtour, a place in which I’m comfortable and can, in turn, surround myself with people who I feel can get me back on the right track,” he added. “Lastly, a huge thank you to all my family, friends, and sponsors who have stuck by me through a frustrating period 🫶🏼.”

Although Brown did not specify which DP World Tour event he plans to play next, reports indicate that he is set to tee it up at this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. Thanks to the exemption he earned with his victory in Germany last year, Brown will also be eligible to compete on the DP World Tour through the end of next season.

That said, it would be interesting to see whether Dan Brown ever returns to the PGA Tour, especially since many DP World Tour players would want the opportunity because of the significantly higher purses.