The Nedbank Golf Challenge used to reward the best European players for a full season, and a field of 72 golfers usually featured the top guys from the Order of Merit standings. But the DP World Tour recently changed the rules for the new “Opening Swing” structure.

The Tour cut the field size down to just 66 players for the 2025 edition, and it prioritizes local Sunshine Tour players and global stars over loyal tour members. It creates a tough situation for consistent veterans who played well all year long, and one veteran player faced the harsh reality of this new system this week.

Joost Luiten shared a screenshot of the entry list on his Instagram recently and showed his name sitting painfully as the “first reserve” right below the red line.

“Sitting as first reserve for the Nedbank Golf Challenge… honestly, it’s hard to understand,” Luiten wrote, expressing his total confusion about how a top performer gets left out in the cold. Why? He himself explained:

“Finishing 33rd on the Order of Merit, earning a place in the biggest tournament of 2025 DP World Tour Championship, yet not getting into a smaller event with bigger field and more spots then the tour championship! I just don’t get it!”

The tour gave the final spots to Andy Sullivan as the final player in the field due to his 30th-place finish in the 2025 Race to Dubai Ranking. It is higher than Luiten’s final position in the Race to Dubai Ranking. They even reserved spots for Eugenio Chacarra, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, and Calum Hill, even when they finished in a lower position in the Race to Dubai Rankings.

These allocations pushed DP World Tour members like Luiten, Marcus Armitage, and Jacob Skov OLESEN down the priority list. The current rules simply do not work in favor of the middle class of the tour anymore.

And the exclusion hurts more because Luiten actually played fantastic golf during the 2025 season. The six-time tour winner recorded four top-10 finishes, including a brilliant solo third at the Hero Indian Open, and he finished 33rd on the season-long list, which usually guarantees entry into almost any event.

Plus, it’s not the first time administrative things have cost him his spot. He previously lost his Paris Olympics ticket due to administrative errors.

“Hard to understand or explain how the @dpworldtour worldtour makes those decisions🤷🏻‍♂️. I’m proud of the season I’ve had and the progress I’ve made, and I’m ready to play. Hopefully a spot opens up, but either way, I’ll keep pushing forward in 2026, “Luiten concluded at the end.

Top Stories

Top 3 PGA Tour Pros Who Missed Their Card After RSM Classic

Tour Pro Hit With Brutal 5-Month Punishment Only 11 Days After Celebrating Career Feat

Jack Nicklaus’ Former Company Announces Bankruptcy After $50M Lawsuit Defeat

Support Pours in as PGA Tour Pro Bursts Into Tears Over Strict New Policy

Jordan Spieth Set to Pay a Heavy Price for Unexplained PGA Tour Absence

And Luiten did not stand alone for very long after hitting the post button

His fellow professionals and fans immediately flooded the comments section to back Luiten.

The 2025 BMW International Open winner Dan Brown commented, “This is a disgrace, should be based off last seasons ranking. Reward those who have played the best golf throughout the entire season and not just done it for one week of the year…,” proving Luiten is not the only one feeling the squeeze.

Brown believes Luiten fought hard for 25 events to earn his 33rd rank, and that deserves a spot over short-term invites.

And one retired Dutch legend also offered almost the same feeling with a little bit of warning. Robert-Jan Derksen sees a dangerous trend in how the tour builds fields and warned:

“Of course you get in easily with more than two weeks to go. But with $6 million prize fund people want to play… It will be harder to get in to the big tournaments in the future, so just get that win and you will be fine again for the next few years.”

And here comes another rising star in the same boat. Brandon Robinson-Thompson, who sits just a few spots behind Luiten on that reserve list, commented, “Say it louder 🔊🙌🏽”.

Even players safe in the field recognize the unfairness of the situation, as Richard Mansell, who secured his spot by winning the Porsche Singapore Classic this year, wrote, “Spot on mate. Hope you get your spot like you deserve 👊🏼”. Mansell’s support destroys the idea that this is just bitterness from excluded players.

But not every fan offered sympathy as one commenter bluntly wrote, “The purse for this tournament… does not fill itself… that money is brought in by the superstars… The PGA cards that you chase so hard throughout the season also come at a price…”

Sponsors put up $6 million to see global stars and local heroes, so one fan finally offered a solution, writing “Go to new Liv team.,best of both worlds”.