Here is everything at stake DP World Tour Championship Sunday...

 

The DP World Tour Championship title, the Race to Dubai Crown, PGA Tour Dual Membership and Open exemptions: Here's what's at stake on the final day

While Tyrrell Hatton targets a first title around the Earth Course, Eugenio Chacarra will hope to hold off Rory McIlroy's attempt to win a record-tying eighth Race to Dubai as he looks to secure the season-long crown.

Other players will be battling it out for both Dual Membership on the PGA Tour and an exemption into next year's Open at St Andrews.

Here is what is at stake for the field on the final day of the DP World Tour Championship.

Hatton leads challenge for DP World Tour Championship title

Tyrrell Hatton has a great record around the Earth Course, but despite a couple of runner-up finishes he has yet to make it over the line with a victory at the DP World Tour Championship.

A prolific Rolex Series winner, the Englishman finished second last week and says he will go out there and try his best as he hopes to hold off not only nearest challenger Victor Perez, but a host of players chasing him that include Race to Dubai number one and two, Eugenio Chacarra and Rory McIlroy.

"I know tomorrow's going to be a tough day," Hatton said. "I've got enough experience down these last few holes to know that anything can happen. I'll just go out tomorrow and try my best."

A final day battle between Chacarra and McIlroy for Race to Dubai

Eugenio Chacarra fought back during an impressive third round 68 which saw him birdie four of his final six holes to regain his projected spot at the top of the Race to Dubai Rankings delivered by DP World.

Rory McIlroy struggled to build on momentum after an eagle at the seventh and went from holding a two-shot lead to four shots behind playing partner Hatton just three holes later. 

The Race for Dual Membership on the PGATour

As part of the Strategic Alliance between the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, the top ten players on the final 2026 Race to Dubai Rankings, not otherwise exempt, will earn Dual Membership on the PGA Tour for 2027.

Race to Dubai leader Chacarra tops that list, followed by fellow multiple-time winners this season Patrick Reed, Casey Jarvis and Jayden Schaper.

While the picture around the final few spots changed hands numerous times on Saturday, it was Mikael Lindberg who made the most significant move, playing his way into 9th position in the race for the ten 

PGA Tour Dual Membership cards. The Swede made three birdies in a row to finish his round and carded a 69, which puts him on -6  for the week in solo third. With that birdie at the last, the 2026 Turkish Airlines Open winner knocked Oliver Lindell down one spot as he leapfrogged Joe Dean to ninth position, while Dean sits in tenth.

Lindell is one of several players who spent time both in and out of that list on Saturday, as well as Francesco Laporta, Dan Bradbury and Nacho Elvira. With the points difference incredibly narrow, we expect a lot of movement tomorrow too. Here's how it looks right now.

A level-par 72 means he will go into the final round of the season with it all to do as he sits alongside ChacarraT4 -5 for the tournament.

McIlroy's best chance to win a record-tying eighth Race to Dubai crown is winning outright or finishing solo second (providing Chacarra does not win), but the permutations are more favourable for the three-time winner this season. With Chacarra playing here for just the second time and McIlroy a three-time winner, it's sure to be an exciting final day around the Earth Course.

The race for an Open exemption

For many, there is more on the line that just a card or the title itself, as the first 25 players in the Final Race to Dubai standings for 2026 will earn an exemption into the 155th Open at St Andrews in 2027.

Here's how it looks on the projected rankings of the Race to Dubai after the third round, showing who already has an exemption and who could be in line for one depending on the outcome of tomorrow's DP World Tour Championship finale.

Position	Player	Has exemption
1	Eugenio Chacarra
2	Rory McIlroy	Yes
3	Tyrrell Hatton
4	Patrick Reed
5	Casey Jarvis	Yes
6	Jon Rahm	Yes
7	Jayden Schaper
8	Aaron Rai	Yes
9	Ryan Fox	Yes
10	Daniel Hillier
11	Victor Perez
12	Jacob Skov Olesen
13	Bernd Wiesberger
14	Andy Sullivan
15	Mikael Lindberg
16	Joe Dean
17	Oliver Lindell
18	Francesco Laporta
19	Matt Fitzpatrick	Yes
20	Nacho Elvira
21	Angel Ayora
22	Dan Bradbury
23	Adam Scott	Yes
24	Angel Hidalgo	Yes
25	David Puig

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Bryan Angus (EDIT)

Rory slips to 72, Hatton leads Race to Dubai shootout on Sunday...54 hole results

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The round 3 story is in the books and the final chapter in this 2026 Race to Dubai will be written on Sunday, and what a story it is.

Its all predicated by a difficult day for the favourite Rory McIlroy slipping to E 72 which has let the rest of the field in, and in all likelihood he and Eugenio Chacarra (68) will be paired together on Sunday.

His driving was poor for much of the day, leaving him approaches from the very deep Bermuda rough, and being in the last pairing the greens had become very fast and bumpy.

FINAL EDIT>>>>8am est

Tyrrell Hatton took a one-stroke lead into the final round of the 2026 DP World Tour Championship as much of the intrigue focused on the battle behind him.

Playing partner Rory McIlroy's closing birdie (72) kept his bid to top the Race to Dubai Rankings delivered by DP World for a record-equalling eighth time on track as he responded to pre-tournament leader Eugenio Chacarra's third-round 68.

They are locked together on -5 and seemingly in a straight showdown for the Harry Vardon Trophy. Jon Rahm's win at last week's Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship had given him hope of an unlikely top spot and Patrick Reed led the way for much of the season but both would now need an unlikely series of events on Sunday. 

Hatton leads the tournament on -9 with France's Victor Perez 67 -8 just behind. 

"I know tomorrow's going to be a tough day, I've got enough experience down these last few holes to know that anything can happen. I'll just go out tomorrow and try my best.

Chacarra, after an inconsistent first two rounds, needed to post a good score and started in perfect fashion with a birdie at the first. 

McIlroy seemed to have struck a major blow at the seventh with an eagle to leapfrog Hatton at the top. He immediately bogeyed the next two, however, to reach the turn two shots behind as Hatton birdied the ninth.

A repeat performance at the tenth left Hatton three clear and McIlroy four off the lead - and Chacarra turned up the pressure further with a birdie at the 15th, and a huge fist pump in celebration, while Rahm made three birdies in four holes round the turn.

McIlroy hit a nice wedge into the par-five 14th, having found an awkward lie in the rough with his tee-shot, but found himself having to respond to a birdie from Hatton after the Englishman's excellent up-and-down. McIlroy responded impressively to make his birdie.

Rahm who fought hard all day slipped back with a 4 putt double-bogey at the 16th but Chacarra found the green in two at the last and rattled in a birdie for a 68 and -5 total.

Perez made a third successive birdie at the 17th to finish -8 with a 67 and join Hatton - who picked up another shot courtesy of a perfect wedge into the 16th - in Sunday's final pairing.

Hatton said: “Every putt I had coming in, I think from 13, the par three, just unbelievably fast and (I’m) really happy with how I putted today.

“I think my iron play's been pretty good these last two weeks. Last week I was really happy with my wedges, this week it's a little bit harder to get the wedges right."

Rahm finished with a birdie but was just outside the top ten at -3 while Reed, who had all but slipped out of Race to Dubai contention at +8 for the first two rounds, found a glimpse of his early-season form with a 67 on Saturday.

Adam Scott matched that score to T4 with Laporta, Chacarra and McIlroy, and Dan Bradbury then bettered it by one with a 66, the best of the week so far, to lift himself to -4. The Englishman finished with five straight birdies and went close to an eagle at the last.

europeantour.com  

Bryan Angus (edit)

Austin Championship suspended due to darkness, 4 Canadians flirting with cut .. 36 hole results

   PGA Tour : Austin Championship  Leaderboard

EDIT <<<<<  Play has been suspended due to darkness

The cut at the Austin Championship has fallen at -4 with the leader Trace Crowe holding on to his lead at -13 thru 16 holes, after an opening -10 62.

CANADIANS (FedEx / OWGR)

With the projected cut falling at -4 when round 2 resumes on Saturday all the -3 will MC

T28  AJ Ewart -6  72 66    104/ 206

T39 Sudarshan Yellamaraju -5 69 70   67/116

T68 Adam Svensson -3 73 68   183 /548

T79 Mac Hughes -2 70 72  107/159

T79 Taylor Pendrith -2 72 70  108 /134

T90 Nick Taylor E 77 67   76/97

Adam Hadwin  176/338 was an alternative

Bryan Angus

McIlroy/ Hatton tied for lead...36 hole results

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With another 30* sunny day, with that W breeze at 16km/h on tap, round 2 is well underway at this version of the DP World Tour Championship.

Rory McIlroy has gone out early in -3 33 to take the lead at -6 as I write at 5.15am est.

Eugenio Chacarra is T14 72 71 -1.

Of note Patrick Reed has dropped out of contention after leading the Race to Dubai for most of the year, buoyed by a stellar start to the season with 2 wins.

He says he is 100% healthy after spraining his wrist, but his game has "gone off the boil" 49th +8 75 77 

Also Aaron Rai is struggling this week T45 76 74...

Bryan Angus

****FINAL EDIT >>>>> 2026/11/13

Rory McIlroy strengthened his bid for a record-tying eighth Race to Dubai title after carding a second-round 70 to share the halfway lead with Ryder Cup teammate Tyrrell Hatton at the DP World Tour Championship.

McIlroy made an early charge up the leaderboard with three birdies in his first eight holes before adding another at the tenth. However, the Northern Irishman found the closing stretch increasingly difficult as windy conditions made scoring a challenge on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Bogeys at the 12th, 16th and 17th threatened to undo his progress, but a birdie at the last brought him back alongside Hatton on five-under-par, who had set the clubhouse target earlier in the afternoon.

With Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra tied 11th for the tournament after the first two days, there was a significant momentum swing in favour of McIlroy, who is currently projected to top the Ranking and capture his fifth straight Race to Dubai crown.

“I played very solidly for those first 11 holes,” McIlroy said afterwards.

“And then 12 felt like the first time I'd really put myself out of position. And once you do start putting yourself out of position on this golf course, this setup, these conditions, it starts to get very, very difficult.

“It's very easy to make bogeys out there. It's very, very tricky once you get yourself out of position. So, easy to make bogeys, but it was nice to at least birdie the last and feel like I sort of salvaged the day a little bit with that birdie.

“I've been coming to this golf course for 17 years, and this is the toughest I think it's ever played. So in my mind it's sort of like, well, you should be going out and shooting 66 or 65, and the course just isn't set up that way this week. And you just have to show a little bit more patience out there. And I started to get maybe a little bit frustrated with the course on the way in. But I think it's just the nature of it. It's a tough test.”

McIlroy boasts an impressive record at the Earth Course, having won the DP World Tour Championship three times and finished runner-up to Matt Fitzpatrick in a play-off last year.

A fourth victory at the venue would secure both the tournament title and the Harry Vardon Trophy, extending his remarkable run of Race to Dubai success.

“I want to win this tournament,” McIlroy said after his round.

“You know, I've won four times down the road at Emirates. It'd be nice to win four times here. So, yeah, I want to win the tournament. And if I win the tournament, that's all I can do. It doesn't really matter what any of the other guys do, you know, if they play well enough. But if I go and I win the first trophy on Sunday, then the second trophy should take care of itself.”

Hatton will have his own ambitions heading into the weekend as he looks to claim his first DP World Tour Championship title after coming close on a number of occasions.

The Englishman, an eight-time DP World Tour winner and serial Rolex Series champion, made an excellent start with birdies at the first two holes before picking up another at the ninth to reach the turn in 33.

A bogey at the tenth briefly interrupted his progress, but Hatton responded with a birdie-par-bogey-birdie finish to sign for a 69 and establish the clubhouse lead.

“Overall it was pretty solid,” Hatton said.

“A couple of really poor tee shots to the one up 7 and the one -- what hole was it? -- 12. Just, yeah, weird shots. Actually struggled with a couple of those in round one in Abu Dhabi last week. So, yeah, weird to see that that kind of crept in. Made me feel a little bit uncomfortable with driver for the rest of the round, to be honest.”

“I'm happy enough with where I'm placed after two rounds. Hopefully I can play better over the weekend and give myself more birdie opportunities.”

First round leader Joost Luiten is one shot behind on four-under with Kristoffer Reitan, one ahead of the trio of Mikael Lindberg, Freddy Schott and Victor Perez.

Three-time winner Jon Rahm sits in a good position alongside compatriot David Puig and South African Jayden Schaper, while Eugenio Chacarra is part of a group of four players tied for 11th on one-under.

First-round leader Joost Luiten sits one shot behind at four under par alongside Kristoffer Reitan, while Mikael Lindberg, Freddy Schott and Victor Perez are another shot back.

"I like how I'm hitting it," Chacarra said. "Like you said, there's been a lot of birdies in harder conditions. So if I can clean up the card a little, I like my chance on the weekend.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

McIlroy pleased with opening start in search of his 8th DP World Tour title

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Eugenio Chacarra remains projected to top the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World while nearest challenger Rory McIlroy made a strong start to his bid for a record-tying eighth Order of Merit title during the opening round of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

The pair, who teed off in the final group together on Thursday, have it all to play for this week but it was World Number Two McIlroy who posted the better score of the day, mixing five birdies with two bogeys for an opening -3 69 to sit in a share of third for the tournament.

The Northern Irishman had a chance for eagle at the last but his effort to move into a tie for second came up just short, which would have pushed him to the top of the projected rankings above Chacarra, who signed for a E 72.

Settling for a birdie, McIlroy - who needs to finish 4th or higher to have a chance at the Harry Vardon Trophy - sits two behind first-round leader Joost Luiten, and one behind Jacob Skov Olesen in a group that also contains Victor Perez, Gregorio De Leo, Freddy Schott and Francesco Laporta.

"Very pleased," said McIlroy, who arrived in Dubai following a third place finish in Abu Dhabi.

"As you said, it was tricky. Windier than it usually is. And then I think with the golf course setup this week, with the more punishing rough, especially off the tee, some of the crosswinds off tees, I felt like I did well to hit most of the fairways, but once you start missing fairways here, you really make it difficult for yourself.

"So, yeah, anything in the 60s today I felt was a good score. And sort of held it together nicely when I needed to. It was nice to finish with a birdie at the last, and obviously in a pretty good position going into the next few days."

Chacarra, who is playing in his 31st event of the year and has a chance to become just the third Spaniard to win the Race to Dubai, said he was proud of his composure in the windy conditions but needed 'to do a couple of things better' if he wants to realise that dream come Sunday evening.

Teeing up in the season finale for just the second time in his career, the three-time winner in 2026 currently sits in a tie for 23rd, having opened his account in Dubai with four birdies and four bogeys.

His steady start was interrupted by a dropped shot at the fourth, but he bounced back with a birdie at the next before handing another shot back just a hole later. An impressive spell saw him find his groove with three birdies on the bounce to end his opening nine, but he was unable to keep that momentum as he dropped two more shots at 13 and 15 on the way in.

The Spaniard, who is 533.93 points ahead of nearest challenger McIlroy, could technically finish last and still finish the week at the top but is ready to reset and focus on what he needs to do.

"It was tough," he said afterwards.

"Obviously, playing in the last group, the wind was out there, the greens weren't as good as in the morning. So we knew it was going to be a long day. Yeah, proud of the fight.

"Obviously, a lot of things to do better. I think maybe a couple of mistakes strategy-wise. Made a bogey on 13 that I thought I was in the right spot, and you can't really be short of that pin because with the conditions and the wind, with the down-grain, it was almost impossible to leave your putt close.

"And then, yeah, all my bogeys. It's like I'm making birdies, I'm playing good, the good's good, I just need to be able to clean the card a little in the next couple of days.

"I know I need to do a couple of things better to be able to have a chance on Sunday, and that's what I'm going to focus on. I think if I fix those, a little strategy-wise and I can putt a little better, I think I'm going to have a chance on Sunday. So I'm excited to keep going tomorrow."

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Canadian scores... Crowe leads Austin Championship...18 hole results

  PGA Tour : Austin Championship  Leaderboard

American Trace Crowe who is ranked #117 in the FedEx points is making the most of the penultimate event on the PGA Tour Fall Series with a 10 birdie opening -10 62 to lead the field by a shot after 18 holes in ideal weather, just a 4mph SE breeze..

Play was suspended due to darkness, with South African Erik van Rooyen and American Max Greyserman T2 with -8 64's, and last week's winner Blades Brown 4th -7 65 on the Canyon Course at this Omni Barton Creek Resort in Austin Texas

Round 1 resumes at 8am local time, with round 2 a scheduled....

CANADIANS (FedEx / OWGR)

T35 Sudarshan Yellamaraju -3 69    66/116

T53 Mac Hughes -2 70   106/159

T84  AJ Ewart E thru 16   106/ 206

T84 Taylor Pendrith E 72  104 /134

T94 Adam Svensson +1 73  183 /548

T118 Nick Taylor +5 77  76/97

Adam Hadwin  176/338 was an alternative

Dutch veteran Luiten leads in blustery Dubai...Live scoreboard

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4.50am EST is 1.50pm at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai

****Niklas Norgaard made an ace at the 13th for 1,000,000 Emirate Airways points

The weather 30*c, moderate breeze 18km/h WNW, play is well under way in blustery conditions with the late wave on the Earth Course in the swanky Jumeirah Estates, Dubai.

Dutch veteran Joost Luiten posted his best opening round at this Tour Championship -5 67 to hold the early clubhouse lead.

Bryan Angus

Final EDIT  8am >>>> est

Joost Luiten fired his lowest round at the Earth Course since 2016 to earn a one-shot lead over Jacob Skov Olesen after the opening round of the DP World Tour Championship.

As the last man to earn his place in the 50-man field, Luiten got the DP World Tour Championship under way with the opening tee shot and quickly set the pace on his way to a -5 67.

Heading into this week at 56th on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, the Dutchman admitted he had nothing to lose as he strung together seven birdies and two bogeys and is now currently projected as high as fourth.

“I said to my caddie, I said, bro, we can only go up this week, you know? We're last man in, we've got nothing to lose, so let's go for it,” said Luiten following his round. “And it worked out so far.

Following an opening par, Luiten made back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes and another at the fifth to move out in front of playing partner Victor Perez, who had also made two birdies in his first three holes.

The Dutchman then capped off an opening nine of 31 with back-to-back birdies to reach -5 at the turn, before bouncing back from bogeys at the 11th and 12th holes with another birdie at the 13th. A final birdie of the day at the last led him to an opening -5 67, posting his lowest score around the Earth Course since the final round in 2016.

“Good opening round, had a great front nine, you know, five-under after nine, and then you hope you can push on,” he explained further.

“But the wind picked up, and I made two annoying bogeys on 11 and 12, which especially on 11 wasn't really needed. But, you know, it happens in these conditions. And I'm quite happy finishing five under because coming in it's tricky.

Another player with plenty to play for this week is Olesen, who also birdied his final hole of the day to card a -4 68.

At 10th in the Race to Dubai, Olesen is one of nine players who could end this week as this year’s champion of the Harry Vardon Trophy, though he does need to win the tournament to have a chance at scooping both titles this week.

 A step closer to that goal, Olesen is also chasing one of the ten PGA Tour Dual Membership cards, and is currently predicted to take the third one, behind season-long leader Eugenio Chacarra and Patrick Reed.

Behind him, Rory McIlroy headlines a group also containing Victor Perez, Gregorio De Leo, Freddy Schott and Francesco Laporta on -3, having made a birdie on his final hole to card an opening 69.

McIlroy needs to finish solo fourth or higher to have a chance overtaking Chacarra and matching Colin Montgomerie's record of eight Order of Merit titles, and mixed five birdies with two bogeys during his opening round. He had a chance for eagle at the last but his effort came up short to move into a tie for second, which would have pushed him to the top of the projected rankings.

Race to Dubai leader Chacarra, who is making just his second appearance at the season finale, had mixed fortunes on day one, making four birdies and four bogeys for a level par 72.

Elsewhere, Kota Kaneko was named Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year as the sole Rookie to make it to the final event of the season, while Reed opened with a disappointing +3 75.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)