Nick Taylor defends Sony Open, Full Field with 6 Canadians

 PGA Tour : Sony Open Field

The venerable Waialae GC, par 70, 7044 yards will open the 2026 PGA Tour season on Thursday, sponsored by Sony for the last time.

Canada's Nick Taylor will attempt to successfully defend his title, he leads Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Adam Svensson and rookies AJ Ewart, and Sudarshan Yellamaraju.

Russell Henley #5, JJ Spaun #6, Robert MacIntyre #7, Hideki Matsuyama #17 are the owgr top ranked players.

Also taking advantage of winning dual membership from the DP World Tour, Dan Brown, Haotong Li, Keita Nakajima, John Parry, Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, and Jordan Smith

England's Laurie Canter left LIV in 2024 saying he wanted to play his way into the majors and Ryder Cup consideration on the DP World Tour. He had a strong 2025 playing his way into the top 10 that qualified for dual membership with the PGA Tour and all the money on offer there.

However he declined to return to LIV for the easier guaranteed money on offer there. He is the father of two young daughters in Bath, England and said that flying back and forth to the USA 30 times a year was not the way he wanted to live.

He also rejoined his life long pals Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter on their LIV team.

This is the last year Sony will sponsor the event, and as I mentioned yesterday, the PGA Tour is considering a re structure of the schedule, possibly eliminating the two Hawaiian tournaments that traditionally begin the year.

Bryan Angus

PGA Tour, Sentry Open is cancelled, is the Sony Open next to follow.

 PGA Tour : The Sentry January 9-12 : cancelled

When preparing my annual coverage of the PGA Tour, which has been on holiday since the Tour Championship, August 21-24, I was reminded of a Press release back in October that due to the drought on Maui and a water dispute browning out the course, the annual Sentry on the famous Plantation GC on Kapalua had been cancelled.

You may remember it was a restricted field reward originally, for winners on the previous year's PGA Tour. Players would often bring their families for a fortnight's working man's holiday in the islands with some lovely prize money thrown in.

Last year it was selected as a signature event with the top 50 now invited as well, and what seemed to me to be an obscene $20,000,000 for what was really just a nice warm up event in paradise.

Nick Taylor (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

So now the season will begin next week at the Sony Open with Canada's Nick Taylor defending his title.

Here's where the waters of the blue Pacific's  gets a bit murky.

This is the last year of Sony's sponsorship. Apparently staging the traditional two Hawaiian events are the most expensive dates on Tour, citing their remote location, and sparse resort crowds on Kapalua, and despite the Sony's proximity to Honolulu it has never been considered a revenue maker either.

The Tour's big draw Scottie Scheffler won't begin his season until the American Express January 22 -25 at La Quinta.

New CEO, Brian Rolapp and his Strategic Sports Group are in discussion to restructure the Tour schedule, it is not my intention to delve into all of the proposals, however it is apparent that eliminating the two Hawaiian events is a possibility.

The entire field for this year's Sony Open has not yet been published but there are a record seven Canadians with 2026 cards.

Taylor, along with Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Mac Hughes are joined by Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Adam Svensson and AJ Ewart are all fully qualified.

Adam Hadwin and Ben Silverman have lost their cards but will receive some invites as past champions or performance in the "reshuffle"categories

Bryan Angus

All you need to know for DP World Tour 2026...

 As a new year dawns on the DP World Tour in 2026, here are at some of the things to watch out for.

The return of the Dubai Invitational

Serving as the opening event of the Race to Dubai’s International Swing, the second edition of the Dubai Invitational marks the start of the action on the DP World Tour in 2026.

Held at Dubai Creek Resort, a European Tour Destinations venue, Ryder Cup hero Tommy Fleetwood is returning to defend his title.

The reigning FedEx Cup Champion and eight-time DP World Tour winner delivered a dramatic birdie–birdie finish at the inaugural edition in 2024 to edge out Ryder Cup team-mate Rory McIlroy on the final day.

The event includes a three-day Pro-Am team competition before a professionals-only final day, bringing together 60 DP World Tour professionals and 60 amateurs.

Every week counts

Featuring a minimum of 42 Race to Dubai tournaments in 25 different countries, the schedule will once again comprise three distinct phases.

Beginning with five Global Swings followed by the Back 9, the season then culminates with the DP World Tour Play-Offs in November.

Each Global Swing has its own identity and its own champion, with exemptions into Rolex Series events and the second phase of the season - the Back 9 - also available.

Members are competing for a record total prize fund of $157.5 million (outside the Major Championships) on golf’s global Tour next season.

The Rolex Series

As in previous years, the consistent thread throughout the course of the season will be the five Rolex Series events – the premium category of events on the DP World Tour.

In 2026 these will be: the Hero Dubai Desert Classic (January), the Genesis Scottish Open – co-sanctioned with the PGA TOUR (July), the BMW PGA Championship (September), the Abu Dhabi Championship (November) and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship (November).

The new events

While the Race to Dubai schedule is largely in line with recent campaigns, there is a brand-new event in 2026.

The Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship, the first tournament on the European Swing, will take place from May 7-10 at Real Club de Golf El Prat in Barcelona.

Its introduction follows the agreement announced last summer that the 2031 Ryder Cup will be played at Camiral in Catalunya, with Spain becoming the first continental European country to host the biennial contest twice.

In addition, the PGA TOUR’s Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic features on the Race to Dubai for the first time from July 16-19.

Alongside the ISCO Championship from July 9-12, it is one of two back-to-back events in the schedule where DP World Tour members will have access to playing on the PGA TOUR.

The new and returning venues

During the International Swing, the Investec South African Open Championship will return to Stellenbosch GC for the first time since 1999.

El Prat will host a DP World Tour event for the first time since the 2015 Open de España presented by Madrid.

Also part of the European Swing, the the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol is moving to Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith.

Since the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone GC, the Italian Open has changed venues annually and this year sees it return to Circolo Golf Torino for the fourth time and first since back-to-back editions in 2013 and 2014.

During the Closing Swing, the third edition of the Danish Golf Championship will take place on the island of Funen, with Great Northern the host venue.

Again forming part of the Back 9, the Amgen Irish Open will be played at Trump International Golf Links Ireland, Doonbeg, for the first time from September 10-13.

Shortly after, the FedEx Open de France is slated to return to Le Golf National after the 2018 Ryder Cup venue underwent major renovation works.

McIlroy targets Monty's record

After topping the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World for a seventh time last year, Rory McIlroy has Colin Montgomerie's record haul of eight firmly in his sights.

The Northern Irishman enjoyed a remarkable year in 2025, achieving the career Grand Slam with a memorable Masters win, tasting victory at the Amgen Irish Open and playing a key role in Europe's historic away Ryder Cup triumph at Bethpage.

A winner of the Harry Vardon Trophy for the last four years, he is ahead of Seve Ballesteros' tally of six and appears intent on climbing to the top of the all-time list.

"It seems within touching distance now," he said. "I was the first European to win the Grand Slam and I'd love to be the most successful European in terms of winning Order of Merits and season-long races.

"I've hopefully got a few more good years left in me, and hopefully I can catch (Montgomerie) and surpass him."

The road to the Majors

Barring the Ryder Cup, nothing gets a golf fan excited quite like the Majors.

The season of golf's four biggest individual prizes will once again begin at Augusta National for the Masters Tournament in April, before Aronimink hosts the US PGA Championship, Shinnecock Hills stages the U.S. Open and The Open Championship visits Royal Birkdale.

As part of a new initiative announced by Augusta National and The R&A last summer, the winner of the Investec South African Open Championship will earn a spot at The Masters, while there will be three places in the field – to golfers not already exempt – at The 154th Open available as part of the Open Qualifying Series.

There is one place available for Royal Birkdale for players competing at the Italian Open, while three places will be available via the Genesis Scottish Open.

The first five DP World Tour members and any DP World Tour members tying for fifth place, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai Rankings on completion of the BMW International Open will also earn a spot at The Open.

As with the past couple of years, the leading three players on the Asian Swing Rankings will earn exempt status for the US PGA Championship.

Players out to shine

You already know about the DP World Tour's established superstars but what about those who might make a name for themselves this season?

Nine players from last year's HotelPlanner Tour cohort of graduates made it to the season finale in Dubai, with three of those - Kristoffer Reitan, John Parry and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen - earning dual membership on the PGA TOUR for the 2026 season.

Martin Couvra, another product of the HotelPlanner Tour in 2024, was named Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year after making his DP World Tour breakthrough..

But it is not just rookies looking to seize the opportunity, with an array of international talent from Qualifying School including Canada's Aaron Cockerill, hoping to emulate Jacob Skov Olesen in playing their way to the season climax in Dubai.

There have already been three first-time winners so far on the 2026 Race to Dubai, with Neergaard-Petersen, David Puig and Jayden Schaper all winning silverware. After there were 19 first-time winners last season, how many will we see this year?

Changes to membership structure

In effect for the 2026 season, there are a number of changes to the DP World Tour's membership structure - designed to provide greater schedule certainty and more balanced playing opportunities. They will also make gaining the 2027 Tour card more difficult.

Among these, are:

• The cut-off to retain a full card through the 2026 Race to Dubai Rankings (for the 2027 season) will be reduced from the top 110 to the top 100

• The number of cards available to top finishers on the HotelPlanner Tour will be reduced from 20 to 15

• The DP World Tour cards available at the 2026 Qualifying School will be reduced from the top 20 and ties to the top 15 and ties.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Heart warming DP World Tour "Comeback kids" for 2026

 It's New Years Eve day, December 31,2025, all the promise of 2026, 18 hours away, and wherever you are, and however you are feeling, I wish us all firstly a healthy new year, for without our health, all the rest doesn't matter. If you can have a prosperous one, that would be a bonus, but to have a loving one would be priceless.

Here's a look at 4 golfers and one honourable mention who will begin 2026 full of hope after crushing defeat who have made a comeback, and the loving support they have had is a big reason why.

There are few sports in the world that can take you from a soaring high to a crushing low in a career, a season or even a round like golf.

Years of hard work can be fulfilled or falter on one putt and here they are, having risen from the depths in the 2025 season and now have the opportunity to fly ever higher on the Race to Dubai in 2026.

Zander Lombard

A joint winner of Qualifying School Final Stage in 2018 and outright winner of the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in 2019, Lombard had amassed seven runner-up finishes on the DP World Tour by the summer of 2024.

But during a three-a-side game of padel with his wife Kelsey, caddie and some friends, Lombard went up for a smash and when he came down his left knee “snapped – like a gunshot”.

An MRI scan and consultation with the doctor of Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich revealed an anterior cruciate ligament rupture and medial meniscus tear - Lombard's season was over in June and he would not return for seven months.

“My wife had to get me dressed for at least six weeks, I was in a brace and two crutches," he said. "Then on crutches until 12 weeks and then one crutch for another four. So it was 15, 16 weeks of constant nurturing from her and your mind just blanks out the bad memories.

“It was tough on the whole but there were some highlights in between. Little goals of getting off the crutches, learning how to walk again. Those little things keep me going."

An understandably difficult 2025 season saw him heading back to the Q School but once there he would win it for the second time in his career in spectacular fashion.

He broke 65 four times in Tarragona en route to a -37 under par total and remarkable 13-shot victory, sealing his place back on Tour.

James Morrison

A Challenge Tour graduate in 2009 who won in his rookie season, 2025 is not the first time that the Englishman has had to stage a big comeback.

He lost his card in 2013 but gained it straight back at the Qualifying School and then spent 11 consecutive years on Tour, winning again in 2015 and missing a chip for a 59 at the 2021 Omega European Masters as he fired a scintillating opening 60.

He would card just three top tens over the next three seasons, however, and ever-candidly admitted he was maybe looking to new avenues in broadcasting, even getting behind the mic on a few occasions while still playing.

Anyone who saw his crestfallen walk off the 18th after missing the cut at the the 2024 Q School may have suspected he had hit his last professional shot but Morrison, having only just turned 40, went back to the HotelPlanner Tour - missing nine out of ten cuts to start 2025.

A spectacular return to form saw him then claim a win out of nowhere - his first professional victory in just over a decade - at the BlotPlay9 but he was on the outside looking in at the graduation places when he arrived at the Rolex Grand Final supported by the R&A for what he thought would be his last event.

But with 13-year-old son Finley on the bag, he claimed a three-shot victory for an emotional second win of the season and a spectacular return to the DP World Tour for 2026.

Eddie Pepperell

Another popular Englishman, Pepperell's overarching story mirrors Morrison's in some ways, although he has taken a different route back to the DP World Tour.

A 2012 Challenge Tour graduate, Pepperell narrowly lost his card in 2016 but bounced straight back at the Qualifying School and went on to enjoy the two most fruitful years of his career so far, racking up two wins, two seconds, two thirds and eight other top tens across 2017 and 2018.

Another Race to Dubai top 50 came in 2022 but in 2024 he once again narrowly lost his card and heartbreak followed at Q School as he missed a seven-foot putt for eagle that would have seen him bounce straight back again.

But Pepperell, who has always been open about his struggles with both the technical and mental side of his game, admitted he was becoming frustrated and walked off the course at this year's Turkish Airlines Open, taking a month off from the game.

In his second event back he shared the lead after three rounds of the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge on the HotelPlanner Tour, only to have to withdraw through injury and he would finish the season 166th on the Race to Dubai and 79th on the Road to Mallorca.

Ever the entertainer, however, Pepperell had one more trick up his sleeve, birdieing the final four holes at Q School to catapult himself into the top 20 and back onto the DP World Tour for 2026.

Ashun Wu

In 2015, Wu did not have a card on the DP World Tour but secured one by winning the Volvo China Open - six days short of ten years later he did the same thing again.

The Chinese had already tasted success on the Japan Golf Tour when he won his home open and maintained momentum on the DP World Tour, winning again in 2016 and 2018.

He then finished outside the top 100 on the Race to Dubai Rankings for the next three seasons but was back in the winner's circle in 2022 in Kenya.

For the second time in his career, his winner's exemption was needed to keep hm on Tour in 2023 but there was heartbreak a year later as he missed out on keeping his card via the Race to Dubai by one spot.

He was on course for an instant return after five rounds at Q School but a closing 73 sent him tumbling down the leaderboard, severely limiting his opportunities in 2025.

Hearts made two starts in each of the Opening and International Swings but come the start of the Asian Swing, he capitalised on his previous winner's exemption to come home in 31 on Sunday, overturn a four-shot deficit and win the Volvo China Open for the second time to return to the DP World Tour for 2026.

Honourable mention : Aaron Cockerill

   DP World Tour : Q School Final Stage.  Leaderboard Tee Times

With the week of his entire year, Aaron Cockerill who only managed one top 10 all season has turned the whole season right on its head with rounds of 69 66 70 67 67 65 -24 to T2 at this Final Stage of the DP World Tour Q School to regain his card for 2026.

In 29 starts he missed 12 cuts, with just the one T10, finishing 120th in the Race to Dubai after being 49th in 2024, he admitted he " just didn't play well enough for 4 rounds all year" and in a candid interview "golf is such a crazy game, I can hit it so well one day, and so very poorly the next"

 

 This is absolutely fantastic for the popular Canadian, now 34, his wife Chelsea, daughter Addison and all his sponsors, who were staring a year on the Challenge Tour (now Hotel Planner) squarely in the face.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

India has 3 of the top 10 toughest holes this year's DP World Tour..

 It’s that time of year again with Christmas over and the New Year upon us, where we turn to the Fortinet Threat Score to reveal which holes on the DP World Tour proved the biggest challenge across the season.

The Fortinet Threat Score measures the average score to par for the entire field, giving fans a real‑time window into just how demanding each hole played throughout the season.

In 2025, two newcomers to the schedule - Fureso Golf Klub and Enhance Anting Golf Club - produced the toughest holes across the season. Yet it was once again the challenge of DLF Golf & Country Club which stood out with three holes inside the top ten, more than any other venue on the schedule.

Here are the ten toughest tests from the 2025 DP World Tour campaign.

Difficulty Rank: 1st

Furesø Golf Klub – Hole 10

Danish Golf Championship
Par: 4 Length: 534 yards
Scoring average: 4.68

The toughest hole on the DP World Tour in 2025 belonged to Furesø Golf Klub in its first appearance on the schedule for the Danish Golf Championship. 

This demanding par four yielded just eight birdies all week and a staggering 238 scores over par, including 56 double bogeys or worse.

Champion Marco Penge made his opportunities count here, going par–birdie–par–par across the four rounds. He was one of only two players to finish the week under par on the tenth, the other being Mats Ege.

It was also the hole where Penge seized control on Sunday: Rasmus Højgaard overshot a lengthy putt and was unable to save par from eight feet, allowing Penge to move ahead on his way to victory.

2nd

Enhance Anting Golf Club – Hole 6

Volvo China Open
Par: 4 Length: 488 yards
Scoring average: 4.58

The Volvo China Open made its first appearance at Enhance Anting Golf Club, where Ashun Wu claimed his fifth DP World Tour title — ten years after his maiden victory at the same event. While Wu produced a flawless record on the sixth, parring it in all four rounds, the demanding par four allowed just 31 birdies across the week.

Joel Moscatel delivered the hole’s only eagle, but the overall scoring told the real story: 207 bogeys and 64 double bogeys or worse made this one of the most punishing tests of the 2025 season.

3rd

Carnoustie Golf Links – Hole 18

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Par: 4 Length: 499 yards
Scoring average: 4.57

With the Barry Burn guarding the approach, the iconic closing hole at Carnoustie lived up to its reputation as one of the most demanding finishers on the DP World Tour. Robert MacIntyre parred the 18th during his round there as players across the field battled tough conditions during a weather‑affected Alfred Dunhill Links Championship that was reduced to 54 holes. Just eight birdies were recorded all week, while 42 players made bogey and 25 made double bogey or worse.

4th

DLF Golf & Country Club – Hole 14

Hero Indian Open
Par: 4 Length: 535 yards
Scoring average: 4.54

With just three players under par for the week at DLF Golf & Country Club, it's unsurprising that the second hardest hole of 2024 once again makes the top five on the hardest holes on the DP World Tour. 

A dogleg-left hole where second shots are played to a green which has several run off areas, there were just 21 birdies for the week on this hole. Winner Eugenio Chacarra had two of them, which included a chip-in for birdie during the final round. He also made up two of the 193 pars, with the course seeing 153 bogeys and 39 double bogeys or worse.

5th

DLF Golf & Country Club – Hole 17

Hero Indian Open
Par: 4 Length: 414 yards
Scoring average: 4.51

Back‑to‑back holes in the top five come from DLF Golf & Country Club, although the 17th presented an entirely different challenge. Short on paper, the penultimate hole still gave up just 23 birdies, while producing 210 pars, 127 bogeys and 46 double bogeys or worse.

It proved to be one of Eugenio Chacarra’s tougher tests as well. He made a double bogey in round two and a bogey in the final round, the only hole on the back nine where he dropped shots at any point during the week.

The hardest par five?

With the hardest par four (Hole 10, Furesø Golf Klub) and hardest par three (Hole 7, Leopard Creek CC) both in the top ten, it begs the question about what the hardest par five on Tour was during the 2025 season.

The answer was the par five 18th at Trump International Golf Links, which played host for the first time to the NEXO Championship and averaged 5.27 across the four days. Incidentally, eventual winner Grant Forrest made a seven on the 72nd hole yet still did enough for a four stroke victory.

10 Toughest Holes on the DP World Tour in 2025

1	Furesø Golf Klub	10	4 (534 yards)	4.68		8	196	182	56
2	Enhance Anting GC	6	4 (488 yards)	4.58	1	31	216	143	64
3	Carnoustie Golf Links	18	4 (499 yards)	4.57		8	93	42	25
4	DLF G&CC	14	4 (414 yards)	4.54		21	193	153	39
5	DLF G&CC	17	4 (535 yards)	4.51		23	210	127	46
6	Leopard Creek	7	3 (194)	3.51		32	247	95	66
7	Laguna National	9	4 (488 yards)	4.45		20	180	95	34
8	DLF G&CC	6	4 (446 yards)	4.44		39	204	116	47
9	Hurstbourne CC	1	4 (515 yards)	4.43		38	227	139	43
10	Houghton Golf Club	15	4 (536 yards)	4.43	1	44	234	139	47

A behind the scenes look at the European/DP World Tour with retiring referee Mike Stewart..

 After a career in rules and tournament administration spanning more than four decades, few are better known in European golf than Mike Stewart.

Respected by colleagues and players alike spanning several generations, the Scot is retiring at the end of December following almost 40 years of service with the European Tour group.

Since joining the European Tour, now known as the DP World Tour, in 1986, Stewart has overseen close to 600 tournaments and refereed at the Major Championships and multiple Ryder Cups.

Across that time, he has served as a referee and then as a tournament director – most notably at the Dubai Desert Classic and Scottish Open – and was most recently the Director of Qualifying School.

Such was his standing not only at the Tour but among other organisations, Stewart was given the honour of being the walking official for Woods’ group in his final appearance working at The Open Championship at St Andrews in 2022.

Modest about his achievements, he departs as the longest-serving member of the Tour staff.

How did you first get involved in golf officiating?

I started with the PGA of Scotland in 1984. I got a job there working under Sandy Jones, who went on to become the chief executive of the PGA for many, many years. I had that role for two years. I was then lucky enough to secure a position with the European Tour. It was an opportunity that arose and I thought I might as well have a go, and it was really just my good fortune that Ken Schofield [the then European Tour’s Executive Director] decided to offer me a job in our Tour Operations department as a referee.

What did it mean to get the role at the Tour?

I've played golf for most of my life. I've never been a professional or played at an elite level but I just had a passion for the game. If you've got any sporting inclination at all, the thought of being involved in sport is quite appealing. I didn't aspire to get into golf. It was just a case of there's an opportunity, let's try that and then my role with the Scottish PGA turned into a role with the European Tour. At that time, I think I was about the 20th employee of the company.

Who did you work alongside when you joined the Tour?

First of all, in the early days, the three key people I was working with and under were Tony Gray, John Paramor and Andy McFee. All were fantastic tournament directors, all very highly thought of in the world of golf. I was lucky enough to learn a lot from them. I was also mentored as a referee by the late, great Keith Williams

What are your memories of your first event?

My first event was the Spanish Open at La Moraleja in May 1986. Andy McFee was the tournament director, and I went out there as a referee. Like anybody who suddenly finds himself heading off to a big tournament in another country, it was a whole new experience. Going out to Spain and working with the Spanish Golf Federation and the tournament promoter, Amen Corner was a very steep learning curve for someone more used to running one day pro-ams in Scotland. 

That week, I think it was on Tuesday, I can remember exactly where I first met Seve Ballesteros under the steps of the La Moraleja club house, having been introduced by Andy.

How did your role at Qualifying School first come about?

Well, the end of that season (1986) was my first encounter with the Qualifying School, which was played at La Manga at the time. I can remember being down in Spain working on the event.  It was run by Andy McFee, the then Qualifying School director.

How did your role come to evolve at the Tour?

Becoming a tournament director was just something you gradually moved into as you gained experience and opportunities arose. So, I started to do a few events as a tournament director, while also refereeing at the same time and that just evolved over a few years to the point, as we took on more staff, where I pretty much became a full-time tournament director. It was also around the early 1990s that we as a group of tour referees started to get invited by other organisations to officiate at the Major Championships. First of all, at The Open and then subsequently Augusta, U.S. Open and the US PGA Championship.

 I went to countless Open Championships. I think it was about 27 I've worked at with my final one being the 150th at St Andrews in 2023

A key part of your work are the dealings with some of the world’s best-known players. What was the first such encounter that sticks with you?

Meeting Seve for the first time was pretty memorable. At the time he was the great big superstar of European golf. I think everybody was a bit in awe of him as I probably was at La Moraleja. That was my first meeting and as I got to know him over the years he was always really nice to me. 

He had this incredible way of using the rules to his advantage. He could be very persuasive and could often talk referees into seeing things from his perspective. You’d say, ‘oh well, he's got a point there and maybe he should get a drop after all’. I think we all succumbed to Seve’s powers of persuasion at some point.

Any standout encounters with Seve?

While I was getting quietly prepared for the presentation in Dubai in 1993, my colleague was giving Seve a ruling on the last hole. Anyway, Seve decides he doesn’t like the answer, so the referee said ‘OK, I'll give you a second opinion’.

Well, I'm currently getting ready for the prize presentation, getting my notes ready, what I'm going to say, who's going to be where, etcetera, etcetera. Then I’m suddenly called out to go to give this second opinion and my heartrate goes into overdrive.

And Seve tried everything under the sun to convince me that he should get relief from a ball that was embedded in sand in one of the sandy waste areas left of the 18th.

 Everything he requested, I declined. As the sand was wet, he asked about casual water. No, Seve, you don't get that. He asked about unusual crowd damage. No, you don't get that here. And then he said, well, surely it just must be ground under repair. No, you don't get that either. In the end, he had to play the ball as it lay, and he just lost out after realistically needing an eagle to stand a chance of winning.

At the presentation afterwards, he wasn't angry or anything. He just came over and said, ‘by the way, Mike, I think you were wrong there. I should have had a free drop."

Is it a source of great pride for you that you have worked with so many of the game’s greats?

I was lucky to come across golf’s ‘big three’ of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer at the tail end of their careers. I did the first two or three Senior Opens at Turnberry, helping to get that event off the ground and Arnold and Gary played in them. Indeed, Gary won the second edition in 1988. I then met Jack for the first time playing in the Austria Open at Gut Altentann in 1990 on a course he designed. It was great to be involved with that generation, some of whom are true legends of the game.

 I was fortunate to witness an incredible era for European golf which  began with the likes of Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo, Seve, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, José María Olazábal. To be around them and work with them was just absolutely brilliant. It's probably even more amazing now to look back on this golden generation of European golfers because at the time it just seemed normal.

Which event are you most proud of?

Well, I think it's 35 countries I've worked in for the Tour. The one tournament that stands out obviously is the Dubai Desert Classic for various reasons. It's worth knowing that I was the very first person from the European Tour ever to go to Dubai in 1988.

Apart from one year in 1991 when the event was cancelled due to the Gulf War, I was involved in every single edition. It was after 34 editions that I decided to step down, and it was the perfect place for me to end my career as a tournament director on the Tour because I've been so closely linked to that event for so long.

 The event has continued to evolve from day one. It was always called the ‘jewel in the crown’ of our early season on Tour from the early days because it was a great place to go to. Most of the top players have been there at some stage. Simply, a terrific event played at a great time of the year on a great golf course at an iconic venue. 

Part of what makes Qualifying School great is the platform it gives to players – how do you reflect on that as an event over the years?

It was originally the only way of really getting onto the Tour because there weren't many other options. Any player who wanted to establish themselves back in the 70s and 80s had to go to Qualifying School.

The emergence of the Challenge Tour now HotelPlanner Tour in 1989 changed that, because performance over the course of a season became more important than performance over one week at Q-School.

There are now even more avenues to get onto the Tour. We never had co-sanctioned events back in the day but those, such as with the Sunshine Tour, have become quite significant. Those pathways give a huge opportunity for the southern hemisphere players to play their way onto our Tour without coming to Q-School or playing on the HotelPlanner Tour.

I have a picture somewhere and it appears on one of the yearbooks of the Q-School graduates from 1989 and if you look back at that picture, there's so many well-known faces who went on to have great careers in golf in some respect. You had Vijay Singh, Jesper Parnevik, Paul Broadhurst, Jean Van De Velde, Carlos Franco but then others like Andy Stubbs who went on to run our Legends Tour for a while.

There were plenty of people like that that were playing Q-School at the time and made a name for themselves in other ways, like Pete Cowen, the world-renowned coach. In my first year [as Q-School director] Nick Dougherty finished third at Final Stage at San Roque. I think it was his first Q-School having turned professional that year. He started to have a great playing career but then things went in a different direction for him, and he’s become an outstanding broadcaster.

Not everything is plain sailing as a tournament director, so what’s been the biggest logistical challenge?

Well, it was coincidentally at my final Desert Classic in 2023. It was an absolute nightmare because the weather was horrific during the week. Heavy overnight rain on Wednesday night and Thursday meant severe flooding and we lost over eight hours of play on the first two days and  ended up running into Monday to complete the golf tournament.

It was so bad that the golf club was closed on Thursday morning and no-one was allowed in and it was virtually impossible to get there anyway. When play eventually started it was ‘behind closed doors’ due to spectator safety concerns. 

In these extreme situations you are constantly working on a strategy and contingency plans to deal with all possible eventualities. It's not just about having the golf course playable, but can players actually get to the golf course to play? Are the structures safe? Can we let people into the structures? Do we reduce the event to 54 holes?  Those are all the sort of conversations we had.

The other one, which was equally as bad in many ways, was at the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart in 2011 where on the Saturday morning we arrived at the course to find  a landslide  across the first fairway and a further smaller one on the 12th hole.

We’ve not really touched upon the Ryder Cup. What is a standout memory for you?

Well, my first one was in 1989 at The Belfry refereeing there. My recollection is that he atmosphere between the players was pretty intense. I have to say there is nothing else in golf like it. Having worked pretty much all the major golf events around the world, it’s above and beyond anything I've ever been involved with. It's just an incredible experience to be involved in something like the Ryder Cup, especially being inside the ropes with the matches. That year, Faldo made a hole-in-one at the 14th, and I was the referee with him in that match and there’s now a plaque at the side of the tee. When I last saw him at The Belfry, I said "there’s something missing off that plaque. It doesn't tell you who the referee of the group was!"

And lastly, how do you reflect on your time working for the Tour?

I'm incredibly proud of it. As I said earlier, there were 20 of us when I started. Now, we are well over 300. So, it gives you an indication of the growth of the whole organisation which is quite incredible and I feel privileged to have been involved as part of Ken Schofield’s team, building the foundations for what we have today.  Nowadays, everything that we do in the business is so much more professional and that's been great to see. I think I'm leaving it in a much better place than when I started. But maybe it’s not as much fun. We had a lot of fun in those good old days!

Mike Stewart was speaking to the DP World Tour's Digital Editor Mathieu Wood

Bryan Angus (edit)

The 5 brightest new DP World Tour stars of 2025...

 The 2025 DP World Tour season highlighted a new wave of talent making their mark at the highest level.

Across the full campaign, and into the early events of the 2026 season played in December, a number of players delivered breakthrough victories, consistent performances and significant steps forward in their careers.

From Marco Penge’s three‑win season that carried him to second place on the Race to Dubai Rankings to Jayden Schaper’s back‑to‑back triumphs in South Africa and Mauritius at the end of the year, these five players produced performances that shaped the narrative of the season and confirmed their status as standout breakthrough stars.

Marco Penge

The ultimate breakthrough season belonged to Penge, who won three times on his way to finishing second on the Race to Dubai in just his second full year on the DP World Tour. Rising from outside the world’s top 400, the Englishman delivered one of the most consistent campaigns of the year, highlighted by victories at the Hainan Classic, Danish Golf Championship, and Open de España presented by Madrid. Those wins, combined with a steady run of five other top tens, lifted him into the world’s top 30 by the end of the season and marked a remarkable turnaround for a player who had only narrowly retained his card in 2024.

His performances also earned him Dual Membership on the PGA TOUR, underlining the scale of his progression.

Martin Couvra

The 2025 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award went to Couvra after a season in which he earned six top‑ten finishes and a maiden victory. The Frenchman arrived from the HotelPlanner Tour with momentum and quickly showed he was ready to compete at the highest level. Three top tens in his first five starts set a strong early benchmark, and his composed performance at the Turkish Airlines Open in May delivered his first DP World Tour title, which helped propel him into the top 15 of the Race to Dubai.

By the close of the season, he had established himself as one of the Tour’s most reliable young players.

Rasmus Neergaard‑Petersen

The 2024 Road to Mallorca champion was winless on the 2025 Race to Dubai, yet he very much announced himself as a player to watch at the top of leaderboards, notching 11 top‑ten finishes before breaking through in the early stages of the 2026 season.

His consistency kept him in the mix at several big events, and one of his standout moments came at the DP World Tour Championship, where he earned a place in the final group alongside Rory McIlroy.

 His breakthrough arrived just a few weeks later when he won the 2026 Crown Australian Open.

Jayden Schaper

Schaper’s rise from promising South African talent to genuine DP World Tour star saw him finally reach his potential in impressive style.

A player who would have already made this list due to a year where he collected nine top tens from 27 starts on the 2025 season, Schaper now confidently sits on it after breaking through in spectacular fashion at the start of the 2026 season.

After years of knocking on the door, he finally claimed a maiden victory at the 2026 Alfred Dunhill Championship, producing a chip‑in birdie at the 16th and an eagle at the first extra hole to defeat defending champion Shaun Norris

That victory unlocked something deeper: a surge of belief that carried him to another play-off triumph just a week later at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, where he holed out for eagle on the second extra hole to secure back‑to‑back wins and close out the year as one of the Tour’s most in‑form players.

Kristoffer Reitan

Returning to the DP World Tour for the first time since 2018,  Reitan graduated from the HotelPlanner Tour and wasted no time making an impact, winning twice in 2025 — once on the 2025 Race to Dubai and once already on the 2026 season.

His first victory came at the Soudal Open, where he overturned a nine-shot defecit with a final round course record 62 and went on to triumph in a play-off. 

With five further top tens, he finished eighth on the Race to Dubai Ranking to secure his Dual Membership on the PGA TOUR.

A wire-to-wire triumph at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player underlined his current place in the game, moving him up to 31st on the Official World Golf Ranking and joining Viktor Hovland  in leading a new era for Norwegian golf.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)