When a player earns his PGA Tour card, it usually marks the start of a dream run. There are bigger winnings in the play, ranging close to $20 million for signature events. Therefore, many professional golfers on the Korn Ferry Tour and the DP World Tour dream of getting a season card on the PGA Tour. This year, the PGA Tour is giving cards to the top 20 finishers on the Korn Ferry Tour. From the DP World Tour, the top 10 on the Race to Dubai rankings who are not already exempt get a card.

Paul Waring, a veteran pro from the DP World Tour, got a card by winning the DP World Tour Championship, the Race to Dubai final, in 2024. One would think that the PGA Tour would mean more money. However, this pro couldn’t make that happen. Andy Johnson, Brendan Porath, and PJ Clark, the hosts of the Fried Egg Golf, were discussing his winnings on the 2025 PGA Tour season. And as they got to know the number, they all started laughing.

“Give me a guess at his season earnings on the PGA Tour. Paul Wearing, the defending champ. $182,000. Oh, my God. You wish. 97. No. $26,401. Seems impossible. That seems hard to do on the PGA Tour. That literally feels impossible. Oh, my God. A full season, full card. He made less than I made in my first job out of college,” the hosts were communicating on the Fired Egg Golf podcast.

Paul Waring became the DP World Tour Championship winner in 2024 to get a PGA Tour card for the 2025 season. He fired rounds of 64-61-73-66 to finish at 24 under par. He edged past Tyrrell Hatton and Rory McIlroy, who finished at 22 and 21 under par, respectively. This shows that he is a skillful player. However, he was not able to prove himself on the PGA Tour.

Waring had 12 starts on the PGA Tour. Of these, he made cuts only in 2. But of those two, he had to withdraw from the Genesis Scottish Open. So basically, the only money Paul Waring made was from the RBC Canadian Open. Ironically, the only event he made the cut in was not in North America.

It seems impossible to win only $26,401 on the PGA Tour, since these are high-prize-pool tournaments. A single cut, and that too, a T47, got Waring over $26,000. So even a single good match or a couple of them could have easily earned him close to a million. For instance, the first event he played in was the 2025 WM Phoenix Open. It is a $9,200,000 prize pool event. In fact, he played in only two events with $4,000,000 pool. Apart from that, most of his tournaments had over $9 million in prize money.

While mocking Paul Waring, Brendan Porath also acknowledged that he had an injury. But it still is very low for someone who has had 12 starts on the PGA Tour. “Now, I want to be fair. I think he may have been injured, but he had 12 starts. It’s not like he had three,” Porath said.

One major contributing factor to his poor PGA Tour season was a shoulder injury. Waring withdrew from the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open during the third round because of a shoulder injury. It was also the reason he missed the Open Championship at Royal Portrush later in 2025. “It’s professional sport – the wear and tear is real. We play four rounds a week over about 25 events – roughly 100 competitive rounds a year – plus practice, pro-ams, gym work, and travel. Injuries happen. Mine came at an annoying time, but that’s how it goes. You can’t control it. What it has given me is a reset. Mentally, I’ve had time to get some clarity and I’m hungrier to get back,” Paul Waring said about his shoulder injury.

The injury and missed cuts severely limited his ability to compete at a high level on the PGA Tour. This explains his underwhelming earnings and performance. Although the injury occurred after his 12 starts, he did not make the cut in any events except one.

Because of the injury and 216th Race to Dubai ranking, Paul Waring is not part of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 2025. However, he was a star guest at the launch of the second edition of the DP World Tour Play-Offs.

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Paul Waring at the launch of the DP World Tour Play-Offs 2025

The second edition of the DP World Tour Play-Offs is returning to the UAE with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the DP World Tour Championship. The Play-Offs feature the top players on the Race to Dubai Rankings. Some of the notable names include Rory McIlroy, Marco Penge, Tyrrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre, Matt Fitzpatrick, and more. However, it also misses many big names like Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Adam Scott, Viktor Hovland, and others. One of the names not playing in the Abu Dhabi Championship is the defending champion, Paul Waring.

However, he was a special guest at the launch event at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. “Winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship last season was one of the most memorable moments of my golf career,” said Waring, reflecting on his win last year. The launch event was attended by important figures such as Aref Al Awani, General Abdullah Alhashmi, Daniel Van Otterdijk, and Richard Bunn.

Though based in the UAE, Paul Waring will not compete this year because of injury, but he looks forward to watching the tournaments. The event promises to be as exciting as ever, thanks to Rory McIlroy, who eyes breaking Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight season-long titles. He has confirmed attendance at both Play-Off events.

Paul Waring’s season turned out to be a tough reminder of how unpredictable professional golf can be. Despite his struggles, his determination to recover and return stronger shows that his story on the course is far from over. While the defending champion is not on the field, the Play-Off events are still sure to be very entertaining.