Phil Mickelson will not compete in next week’s PGA Championship as he continues to deal with a family health issue, tournament organizers confirmed Tuesday.

Mickelson, 55, a three-time Masters champion and six-time major winner, has withdrawn from the field at Aronimink Golf Club, where the PGA Championship is scheduled to take place from May 14 to May 17. Max Homa has been added to the field as his replacement.

The withdrawal marks another absence for Mickelson during a season in which he has already missed several events. The LIV Golf player also sat out the 2026 Masters at Augusta National last month after announcing he would take time away from competition for an unspecified family health matter.

“Unfortunately, I will not play in The Masters Tournament next week and will be out for an extended period of time as my family continues to navigate a personal health matter,” Mickelson wrote in an April statement posted to social media.

“I wish everyone the best of luck and will be watching,” he added.

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Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley expressed support for Mickelson at the time, acknowledging the golfer’s long connection with the tournament.

“We know how much Phil loves the Masters tournament, and he will be missed by everyone in Augusta next week,” Ridley’s statement said. “He has our complete support as he takes time to be with his family.”

Mickelson’s latest withdrawal means he will miss another major championship after previously being expected to join a field of more than 150 players at Aronimink. He has won the PGA Championship twice, including his historic 2021 victory at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina. That win made him the oldest player to capture a major title, doing so at age 50.

His absence also disrupts the start of the year. Mickelson has missed four LIV Golf events this season, including tournaments in Hong Kong and Singapore. In February, a “family health matter” was also cited as the reason for his absence.

Mickelson briefly returned to competition in March at a LIV Golf event in South Africa, where he finished tied for 48th. Soon after, he announced in early April that he would step away from golf for an extended period.

No further details have been released about the family health matter.

Cameron Young’s toughest opponent at the Cadillac Championship turned out to be himself — and even that couldn’t stop him. On the par-4 second hole Sunday, Young watched his ball shift in the fairway after address and immediately called a one-stroke penalty on himself. Then he made par anyway. It set the tone for a week in which he was simply untouchable.

Young led wire-to-wire at Trump National Doral, closing with a 4-under 68 to finish at 19-under for the tournament, six shots ahead of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who also shot 68. The margin of victory told only part of the story.

“When the golf course is difficult, when the conditions are difficult, that tends to make me easier for me mentally,” Young said. With President Donald Trump watching from the course alongside family members including granddaughter Kai Trump, who is set to play collegiate golf at the University of Miami Young pocketed $3.6 million, the second-largest payday of his career behind the $4.5 million he earned at The Players Championship earlier this season.

Trump arrived shortly after noon and stayed until the final putt dropped, joining spectators who were allowed into the fairway around the 18th hole to witness the closing moments. Early Sunday morning brought just over an inch of rain, pushing back the scheduled 7:30 a.m. start by two hours.

The wet conditions softened the famed Blue Monster; considerably preferred lies were granted, and scoring dropped noticeably. While the average score hovered between 71 and 71.6 in the first three rounds, Sunday’s field averaged 69. The par-5 18th hole, which had yielded only nine birdies across the first three rounds combined, produced 12 birdies on Sunday alone.

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Scheffler, meanwhile, has now finished second in three consecutive starts, trailing Rory McIlroy by a shot at the Masters, losing a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick at Hilton Head, and now finishing well behind Young. The first two were agonizingly close. This one was not. On the self-imposed penalty, Young said there was never any hesitation.

“Your heart sinks when you see it move,” Young said. “But it moved. That’s part of what golf is about. There’s no one who’s going to give me a penalty there but myself.” Ben Griffin (68) finished third at 12-under, while Si Woo Kim (70), Sepp Straka (66) and Adam Scott (64) shared fourth at 11-under.

Scott was perhaps the weekend’s other headline performer, shooting 66-64 over the final two days. The result likely secured his place in the U.S. Open, which, assuming he tees it up at the PGA Championship later this month, would mark his 100th consecutive major start.

“To win a major I’m going to need to put four days together, not just a weekend coming from behind,” said Scott, who last won at Doral in 2016. “I feel like my game is there. I’m doing all the things that I think I need to do to be in that kind of contention.”

The walls are closing in on LIV Golf, and the players who gambled their careers on it are now quietly knocking on the door they once walked out of. With Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund reportedly set to withdraw its financial backing from LIV Golf after 2026, representatives for multiple LIV players have already contacted the PGA Tour to explore a potential return.

The conversations are real, sources say, but the welcome mat is anything but warm. The PGA Tour had offered a formal pathway earlier this year through its “Returning Member Program,” a performance-based route designed for players who had been away from the tour for at least two years and had won a major or The Players Championship between 2022 and 2025.

Beyond Brooks Koepka, who announced his departure from LIV in January, only three players qualified: Cam Smith, Jon Rahm, and Bryson DeChambeau. The window closed on February 2. All three passed. It is not expected to be renewed, according to Sports Business Journal.

“The situation is different now.” Players hoping for even the more modest arrangement Patrick Reed received, a one-year ban tied to his last LIV appearance, may find that option unavailable, too. Complicating matters further, LIV players left the tour for various reasons.

Some resigned their memberships; others simply vanished without formally doing so. The tour intends to sort returning players into distinct categories accordingly. The eleven players who joined an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, including DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Talor Gooch, and Ian Poulter, are expected to face the steepest scrutiny.

Resentment over that litigation has not faded. “I don’t necessarily have scar tissue, but there are plenty of people around our tour who do,” PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp told the Wall Street Journal. “It has to be accounted for in some shape or form.” The two most consequential cases are Rahm and DeChambeau. Rahm’s departure at the end of 2023 is widely viewed inside the tour as having extended the conflict by a year.

He crossed over just as LIV was faltering, giving the Saudi circuit a credibility boost it was running out of time to manufacture. His DP World Tour reinstatement remains unresolved, clouding his 2027 Ryder Cup eligibility. At Augusta, he was unapologetic and showed no sign of softening. DeChambeau’s situation is murkier still.

His representatives reportedly approached LIV about a new deal before the Masters, seeking a figure well above Rahm’s reported $300 million contract. LIV did not engage. His current deal runs through year’s end, and his future remains publicly unresolved. For both men and many others on the LIV roster, the window may be narrowing faster than they anticipated on terms they no longer get to set.

After a ten-year absence, the PGA Tour is heading back to Trump National Doral in Miami this week for the inaugural Cadillac Championship, though “inaugural” is a word that deserves an asterisk. Cadillac was also the title sponsor the last time Doral hosted a Tour event back in 2016, when it was branded as the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

The reunion with one of Florida’s most storied layouts is significant, as the event has been elevated to signature status and features a hefty $20 million purse. The Blue Monster, a 7,739-yard test of nerve and ball-striking designed by Dick Wilson in 1962, was a fixture on the PGA Tour calendar for over five decades, hosting events annually from 1962 through 2016.

Wilson’s creation set the template for modern South Florida golf, featuring countless lakes, deep bunkers, and greens elevated above the fairways to demand precise aerial approaches. It’s a course that punishes mistakes and rewards players who can manage the wind.

This week’s field is loaded with marquee names ready to take on the challenge. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler leads the charge alongside Cameron Young and Justin Rose. Also in contention are Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Russell Henley, Hideki Matsuyama, J.J. Spaun, Chris Gotterup, Sepp Straka, and Zurich Classic champion Alex Fitzpatrick, among others.

The last man to conquer the Blue Monster was Adam Scott, who edged Bubba Watson by a single stroke at the 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championship. Scott returns to Doral this week carrying fond memories of the place.

“It’s great to be back here,” Scott said on Tuesday. “Good memories for me. Obviously, winning the last time we were here, but always enjoyed playing this golf course. It’s a challenge. It’s called the Blue Monster for a reason. It’s a big, very penal golf course. The wind can blow, and that’s the biggest challenge out here.

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So you’ve got to strike it well, just demanding tee-to-green. It’s great that we’re back, and looking forward to this week.” Whoever claims the title this week will pocket $3.6 million and collect 700 FedEx Cup points, a massive haul that could shake up the season standings significantly. Television coverage runs Thursday through Sunday on Golf Channel, CBS, and Paramount+, with full streaming available on ESPN+.

View Course TV Schedule Thursday

3-7 p.m., Golf Channel/NBC Sports App

Friday

3-7 p.m., Golf Channel/NBC Sports App

Saturday

12 noon-3 p.m., Golf Channel/NBC Sports App; 3-6 p.m., CBS/Paramount+

Sunday

12 noon-3 p.m., Golf Channel/NBC Sports App; 3-6 p.m., CBS/Paramount+

Streaming Schedule (all times EDT)

PGA Tour Live streaming coverage will air on ESPN+ with four separate feeds each day.

Thursday

8:30 a.m.-7 p.m., Main Feed/Featured Group9:30 a.m.-7 p.m., Marquee Group/Featured Group9:15 a.m.-7 p.m., Featured Groups/Featured Hole8:30 a.m.-7 p.m., Betcast/Betcast Featured Hole

Friday

8:30 a.m.-7 p.m., Main Feed/Featured Group9:30 a.m.-7 p.m., Marquee Group/Featured Group9:15 a.m.-7 p.m., Featured Groups/Featured Hole8:30 a.m.-7 p.m., Betcast/Betcast Featured Hole

Saturday

7:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Main Feed/Featured Group8:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Marquee Group/Featured Group8:15 a.m.-6 p.m., Featured Groups/Featured Hole7:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Betcast/Betcast Featured Hole

Sunday

7:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Main Feed/Featured Group8:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Marquee Group/Featured Group8:15 a.m.-6 p.m., Featured Groups/Featured Hole7:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Betcast/Betcast Featured Hole

Leaderboard

Find all live PGA Tour scoring data here.

Tee Times (all times EDT) FIRST ROUND/THURSDAY

First tee

8:40 a.m. — Matt Wallace, Patrick Rodgers

8:50 a.m. — Jhonattan Vegas, Bud Cauley

9 a.m. — Tom Hoge, Joel Dahmen

9:10 a.m. — Taylor Pendrith, Sahith Theegala

9:20 a.m. — Matt McCarty, David Lipsky

9:30 a.m. — Denny McCarthy, Ryo Hisatsune

9:45 a.m. — Andrew Putnam, Pierceson Coody

9:55 a.m. — Maverick McNealy, Sungjae Im

10:05 a.m. — J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin

10:15 a.m. — Brian Harman, Harris English

10:25 a.m. — Sepp Straka, Harry Hall

10:35 a.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Ricky Castillo

10:50 a.m. — Cameron Young, Scottie Scheffler

11 a.m. — Justin Rose, Adam Scott

11:10 a.m. — Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth

11:20 a.m. — Gary Woodland, Jacob Bridgeman

11:30 a.m. — Min Woo Lee, Jordan Smith

11:40 a.m. — Keith Mitchell, Alex Smalley

11:55 a.m. — Kurt Kitayama, Sudarshan Yellamaraju

12:05 p.m. — Michael Kim, Austin Smotherman

12:15 p.m. — Max Homa, Max Greyserman

12:25 p.m. — Ryan Fox, Alex Noren

12:35 p.m. — J.T. Poston, Jake Knapp

12:45 p.m. — Aldrich Potgieter, Chandler Blanchet

1 p.m. — Lucas Glover, Daniel Berger

1:10 p.m. — Nick Taylor, Nicolai Højgaard

1:20 p.m. — Alex Fitzpatrick, Nico Echavarria

1:30 p.m. — Corey Conners, Michael Thorbjorsen

1:40 p.m. — Russell Henley, Si Woo Kim

1:50 p.m. — Andrew Novak, Sam Burns

2:05 p.m. — Chris Gotterup, Hideki Matsuyama

2:15 p.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland

2:25 p.m. — Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler

2:35 p.m. — Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowry

2:45 p.m. — Ryan Gerard, Jason Day

2:55 p.m. — Brian Campbell, Sam Stevens

SECOND ROUND/FRIDAY

First tee

8:40 a.m. — Kurt Kitayama, Sudarshan Yellamaraju

8:50 a.m. — Michael Kim, Austin Smotherman

9 a.m. — Max Homa, Max Greyserman

9:10 a.m. — Ryan Fox, Alex Noren

9:20 a.m. — J.T. Poston, Jake Knapp

9:30 a.m. — Aldrich Potgieter, Chandler Blanchet

9:45 a.m. — Lucas Glover, Daniel Berger

9:55 a.m. — Nick Taylor, Nicolai Højgaard

10:05 a.m. — Alex Fitzpatrick, Nico Echavarria

10:15 a.m. — Corey Conners, , Michael Thorbjorsen

10:25 a.m. — Russell Henley, Si Woo Kim

10:35 a.m. — Andrew Novak, Sam Burns

10:50 a.m. — Chris Gotterup, Hideki Matsuyama

11 a.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland

11:10 a.m. — Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler

11:20 a.m. — Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowry

11:30 a.m. — Ryan Gerard, Jason Day

11:40 a.m. — Brian Campbell, Sam Stevens

11:55 a.m. — Matt Wallace, Patrick Rodgers

12:05 p.m. — Jhonattan Vegas, Bud Cauley

12:15 p.m. — Tom Hoge, Joel Dahmen

12:25 p.m. — Taylor Pendrith, Sahith Theegala

12:35 p.m. — Matt McCarty, David Lipsky

12:45 p.m. — Denny McCarthy, Ryo Hisatsune

1 p.m. — Andrew Putnam, Pierceson Coody

1:10 p.m. — Maverick McNealy, Sungjae Im

1:20 p.m. — J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin

1:30 p.m. — Brian Harman, Harris English

1:40 p.m. — Sepp Straka, Harry Hall

1:50 p.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Ricky Castillo

2:05 p.m. — Cameron Young, Scottie Scheffler

2:15 p.m. — Justin Rose, Adam Scott

2:25 p.m. — Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth

2:35 p.m. — Gary Woodland, Jacob Bridgeman

2:45 p.m. — Min Woo Lee, Jordan Smith

2:55 p.m. — Keith Mitchell, Alex Smalley

LIV Golf’s scheduled tournament in New Orleans in late June will be postponed, sources told ESPN on Monday, as the breakaway golf league scrambles to secure alternative funding following a significant pullback by its primary backer, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The tournament had been set for June 25–28 at Bayou Oaks at City Park in Louisiana. A formal statement is expected to be released Tuesday, according to sources familiar with the matter. The postponement comes after Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois spent the past couple of weeks pressing LIV Golf officials for a definitive decision.

Sources with knowledge of the league’s operations confirmed that LIV Golf has been working alongside Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry’s office and the Louisiana Economic Development agency to explore potential alternative dates in the fall.

The league cited several reasons for the delay, including a desire to avoid the peak summer heat, ensure the course is in championship-caliber condition, and sidestep attendance and television viewership conflicts with the FIFA World Cup.

The financial stakes for Louisiana are considerable. The state had already spent $2 million on course improvements in preparation for the event and was poised to commit an additional $5 million. LIV Golf has agreed to return $1.2 million it had already received, WDSU reported.

The broader question hanging over the league, however, is whether it has a future at all. The PIF, which has poured more than $5 billion into LIV Golf since its launch in 2022 reportedly at a rate of $100 million per month over the past three-plus years is said to have pulled its financial commitment beyond the current season.

Much of that investment went toward player contracts and tournament purses, which climbed from $25 million to $30 million this season, with an additional $5 million allocated to team purses. Earlier this month, Saudi Crown Prince and PIF Chairman Mohammed bin Salman signed off on a new five-year strategic plan for the sovereign wealth fund, one focused squarely on domestic initiatives.

LIV Golf received no mention. Despite the turbulence, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil struck a defiant tone in an April 15 email to staff, insisting the 2026 season “continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.”

O’Neil elaborated during last week’s broadcast from the league’s tournament in Mexico City. “The reality is you’re funded through the season and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going,” he said. “But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of man.”

LIV Golf has seven tournaments remaining this season, including four on American soil. The next event is scheduled for May 7–10 at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia a course owned by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Bryson DeChambeau, one of LIV Golf’s most recognizable stars, has reportedly begun exploring his options beyond the Saudi-backed league even as its chief executive moves to quash mounting speculation about the organization’s future.

According to a report by Brody Miller in The Athletic, the former U.S. Open champion used Masters week to quietly sound out his alternatives. “According to golf industry sources, DeChambeau and his team spent a part of Masters week meeting with organizations to discuss possible options if he chose to leave LIV,” Miller reported.

The meetings suggest a player weighing his next move carefully and apparently from a position of significant leverage. Miller’s report added that DeChambeau’s asking price to re-sign with LIV is eye-watering. “Speculation persists that, in the wake of others leaving LIV for the PGA Tour earlier this year, his ask to re-sign is up to $500 million,” he wrote.

Further underlining just how confident DeChambeau is in his own value, Miller noted that the golfer has reportedly been dangling his massive YouTube following as a bargaining chip in negotiations with potential suitors. “DeChambeau has even used his YouTube success as a leverage play with all potential suitors, indicating he’s open to only filming content and playing the four major championships,” Miller reported.

It is a remarkable position for any golfer to be in and it reflects DeChambeau’s transformation into something larger than a traditional tour player. His online presence has made him one of the sport’s most marketable figures, and he appears to know it.

This is not the first time DeChambeau has faced a crossroads in recent months. Earlier this year, he reportedly had the opportunity to return to the PGA Tour through the Returning Member Program, the same route that brought Brooks Koepka back to the traditional circuit, but declined.

Whether his current meetings represent a genuine change of direction or a calculated negotiating tactic remains unclear. What is clear is that LIV Golf’s leadership is not interested in entertaining the narrative of decline. CEO Scott O’Neill moved swiftly to address the swirling rumors in a statement that left little room for ambiguity.

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“I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” O’Neill wrote. “We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before.”

He added: “The life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure. We have faced headwinds since the jump, and we’ve answered every time with resilience and grace.”

Matt Fitzpatrick has revealed that a well-timed impression of Rory McIlroy’s caddie by his own bagman helped lighten the mood and reset his focus before he went on to defeat world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a playoff to claim his second RBC Heritage title at Harbour Town.

The Englishman had enjoyed a commanding week in South Carolina, taking a three-shot lead into Sunday’s final round. But Scheffler, never one to surrender without a fight, reeled off a series of late birdies to trim that advantage to just one shot heading into the 18th hole, setting up a nervy finish.

Matt Fitzpatrick defeated Scottie Scheffler at the RBC Heritage in a play-off and banked $3.6 million, joining Chris Gotterup as the only multiple 2026 winners.

Both players missed the green to the right with their approach shots. Scheffler played a superb pitch that settled just inches from the cup, while Fitzpatrick failed to read the pace of the fast surface correctly, leaving his chip well short and handing over a bogey. The lead was gone. A playoff beckoned.

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As the pair made their way back to the 18th tee, caddie Daniel Parratt reached for a line that had become famous just weeks earlier, channelling Rory McIlroy‘s caddie Harry Diamond, who had offered his player a similar word of reassurance during the Masters.

“Yeah, you know, he actually said getting to the tee, he said, we’d have taken this start of the week, and I know Rory said that the other week,” Fitzpatrick told CBS broadcaster Amanda Balionis on the 18th green after the win.

“I jokingly said to Dan, I was like, oh okay, here he is, Harry Diamond here. Yeah, we had a good laugh about that.” The moment of levity proved well-timed. Fitzpatrick stepped onto the tee relaxed and in control, and what followed was one of the shots of the tournament.

With a stiff breeze in his face and the playoff on the line, he flushed a 4-iron to 12 feet. “I felt like I was in a good spot, and to hit the 4-iron that I hit there was out of this world,” he said. Scheffler, by contrast, fluffed his approach and was left scrambling, managing only to get his third shot to a few feet.

It didn’t matter. Fitzpatrick rolled in the birdie putt to seal the win on the 73rd hole of the week.
For Fitzpatrick, the victory carries a weight that goes beyond trophies and ranking points. He has now won the RBC Heritage twice and holds the tournament in the highest regard.

“Yeah, it means the world. It means the world,” he said. “This is a tournament I wanted to win growing up, arguably more than any of the majors before I understood about the game. To win it twice means the world. To go out today and go toe-to-toe with Scottie and get over the line there on the 73rd is special.”

Rory McIlroy made history at Augusta National last Sunday, becoming only the fourth golfer ever to win back-to-back Masters titles and claiming his sixth major championship, but nearly $1.9 million of his $4.5 million prize will go straight to the taxman.

The Northern Irishman’s second consecutive green jacket arrived at the end of one of the most dramatic final rounds Augusta has seen in years. McIlroy had squandered a record six-shot lead in the third round, briefly surrendered the lead again on Sunday, before birdying the 12th and 13th to surge clear.

He then survived a nervy finish at the 18th, driving into the trees before getting up and down from a bunker to win with a bogey. As he sank the final putt, he was greeted by his parents, who had been absent for his first Masters triumph.

His one-shot victory over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler placed McIlroy alongside Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods in the tournament’s history books. Scheffler collected $2.43 million for his runner-up finish, while Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley, Justin Rose and Cameron Young each took home $1.08 million for their share of third place.

The 2026 Masters offered a record $22.5 million purse, up from $21 million the previous year. But every competitor at Augusta faces an unavoidable consequence of winning on American soil. Analysis by AskGamblers found that McIlroy is set to lose $1,898,550 of his winnings due to US tax regulations.

All Master’s competitors are subject to a combined tax rate of 41.99 percent in 2026, which reflects the federal withholding rate of 37 percent and Georgia’s state tax rate of 4.99 percent. Across his two consecutive Masters victories, McIlroy has now accumulated a combined tax bill of $3,669,930, an increase of $109,170 on his 2025 liability, driven by the larger prize fund and a marginal rise in Georgia’s state rate.

The total projected tax bill for the entire 2026 Masters field stands at $9,447,750, up $545,850 on the previous year. Beyond the finances, McIlroy’s place in the sport’s pantheon continues to grow. He is now joint-second on the list of European major winners, alongside Faldo, with six, behind only Harry Vardon’s seven, accumulated between 1896 and 1914.

He also becomes the first player since Tiger Woods to hold the same major title in consecutive years, a feat that underlines just how dominant his form at Augusta has become.

The 2024–25 DP World Tour season reaches its conclusion this week in Dubai, where the stakes extend far beyond a single tournament purse. The DP World Tour Championship is not only a $10 million event but also the final stage of the Race to Dubai, where the season’s best golfer will be crowned, and several careers could change overnight.

Played at Jumeirah Golf Estates, the championship traditionally serves as the Tour’s grand finale. Since the Order of Merit was replaced by the Race to Dubai in 2009, the event has remained the focal point of the European schedule. The Earth Course, designed by Greg Norman, once again provides the stage for the final act of the season.

The Prize: Money, Prestige, and Opportunity

The DP World Tour Championship is one of the most lucrative events on the schedule. It features a 72-hole format with no cut and a total purse of $10 million. The tournament winner will collect $3 million.

Alongside the tournament trophy, the season-long Race to Dubai champion will receive the prestigious Harry Vardon Trophy. The Race to Dubai also carries a $6 million bonus pool, with $1.5 million awarded to the player who finishes first in the final standings.

For many competitors, the most significant reward goes beyond money. The top 10 players in the final Race to Dubai rankings who have not already qualified will earn PGA Tour cards for the 2026 season. That opportunity can instantly transform a player’s career, providing access to golf’s biggest events and larger prize purses.

The Field: Elite Talent with a Few Absences

The tournament field consists of the top 50 players in the Race to Dubai standings. In addition, Ryder Cup stars Ludvig Åberg and Shane Lowry received special invitations.

Despite the strong lineup, several notable players are absent. Jon Rahm is skipping the event after a demanding season. Viktor Hovland is still recovering from a neck injury sustained during the Ryder Cup and will miss the tournament. Sepp Straka is also absent due to a family matter.

Among the top 50 players in the standings, Hovland is the only one not competing this week.

Race to Dubai: McIlroy Leads the Chase

Much of the attention centers on Rory McIlroy, who arrives in Dubai leading the Race to Dubai standings. His season includes major highlights such as victories at the Masters and the Irish Open, as well as a third-place finish at last week’s Abu Dhabi event, where he recorded his lowest-ever round on the DP World Tour.

McIlroy has a strong history at Jumeirah Golf Estates and believes the course suits his game well. He is pursuing several milestones this week.

A victory would secure his fourth consecutive Race to Dubai title. It would also mark his seventh overall Order of Merit triumph, placing him just one title behind Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight. McIlroy is also the defending champion of the DP World Tour Championship, having won the tournament three times.

Only two players still have a realistic chance of catching him.

Marco Penge has emerged as one of the breakout players of the season. With three wins in 2025, including the Spanish Open, he sits second in the standings and has nearly secured his PGA Tour card.

Tyrrell Hatton also remains mathematically in contention. Although he has spent much of the season competing on LIV Golf, his victory in Dubai earlier in the year keeps him within reach.

For McIlroy, the scenario is straightforward: a win or runner-up finish guarantees the Race to Dubai title. Penge would need at least a tie for second to apply pressure, while Hatton must win and rely on other results going his way.

The Battle for PGA Tour Cards

Another compelling storyline is the race for the 10 PGA Tour cards available through the Race to Dubai standings.

Marco Penge is almost certain to secure one of the spots. The other players currently occupying qualifying positions include Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, John Parry, Alex Noren, Laurie Canter, Haotong Li, Daniel Brown, Keita Nakajima, and Jordan Smith.

However, with the final tournament offering significant ranking points, the standings could still change dramatically. A strong performance in Dubai could push a player into the top 10 and secure a PGA Tour card for 2026.

With the season’s final event underway, the DP World Tour Championship promises high drama. For some players, it’s a chance to add another trophy to their collection. For others, it may be the moment that launches the next chapter of their careers.