The race to keep a DP World Tour card has rarely been this tight. The guaranteed cutoff now sits at the top 100, and LIV Golf players are also expected to crowd Q-School. That means one missed cut could decide a player’s job for 2027. Adding to the pressure is a brutal tour schedule, with nine events squeezed into nine straight weeks. Speaking on the Fried Egg Golf Podcast, Brendan Porath called the run-in “bananas” and shared what he had heard from inside the tour.
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“It’s better than the insane DP World Tour schedule in the last three or four weeks, where the guys are playing for their jobs to be top 100, going from Spain to India to South Korea, three weeks in a row. It’s just bananas,” he said on the show.
After competing at the Open de España in Madrid from October 8–11, players headed to New Delhi for the DP World India Championship the following week, October 15–18. This ended with the Genesis Championship in Cheonan, South Korea, which wrapped up on Sunday, October 25.
“I had some folks on the tour saying it’s like we’re all just dead, and they’re making us at the end of the year go to India to Korea, and that’s where you’re playing for your card,” he revealed. “No wonder these guys are in tears and weigh on their shoulders when they get through or don’t. It’s just a bad schedule. That’s a bad system.”
His criticism is not without precedent, either. The stretch he describes forms the final nine events of a nine-week run, from the Betfred British Masters on August 27 to the Genesis Championship on October 25. During that stretch, players travelled from Switzerland to Ireland, England, France, Scotland, and Spain before the final three stops in New Delhi and Cheonan.
The discussion around the tight schedule is particularly relevant this year because the margins are razor-thin. Sean Crocker, for example, entered the Korea event ranked 103rd and was projected to move to 101st after Friday’s cut. He needed a strong final-round charge to secure his card, and he delivered.
But the safety net for players who fail to put together a good run has also shrunk. The guaranteed card cutoff dropped from the top 110 last year to the top 100, while the number of Q-School spots has also been reduced from 20 to 15. With LIV Golf players expected to swell the field if they fail to secure DP World Tour places, missing out could prove costlier than ever.
Despite the demanding schedule, many card chasers played week after week. Crocker played for 12 consecutive weeks, while Matteo Manassero and David Law each played 11 weeks in a row to fight for their places.
The toll was visible, too. After the third round of the Genesis Championship, Crocker joked about the stress taking a toll on his stomach.
“My stomach’s messed up from the stress and the chicken wings, man,” he said with a chuckle.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat, a multiple-time winner, also played 11 consecutive weeks before withdrawing from the Korea event with a back issue. Notably, he had been making cuts by narrow margins week after week and said the strain was as much mental as physical.
“I feel like my mental part is working twice harder than everyone else.”
For David Law, the cost was also felt at home. The Scot finished 99th after playing 11 consecutive weeks. He is married to Natasha and has three children, the youngest of whom, Florence, is just six months old. He spent much of the past three months away competing and had very little time with his family.
“Yeah, it’s not been fair to them, really,” he said, speaking to the press.
The pressure also appeared to affect performances on the course. Sebastian Söderberg, for example, needed a solid finish to break into the top 100 but started with a five-over score through his first seven holes. Porath suggested the demanding schedule could have been one of the factors behind his failure to retain his card.
For now, the tour has not directly responded to the criticism. In 2025, Guy Kinnings said the card changes were intended to give members “more balanced playing opportunities” and that the tour would monitor their impact. Yet the 2027 calendar, announced in September, still extends into October, with the Hong Kong Open returning from October 21 to 24.