The 2025/26 DP World Tour season is barely two months old, but one player already looks a near certainty to earn a PGA Tour card via the season-long Race to Dubai rankings.
Thanks to the 10 Cards Initiative, the top 10 in the rankings not otherwise exempt following the DP World Tour Championship earn a PGA Tour card, with Patrick Reed leading the way following his second win in three starts at the Qatar Masters.
For Reed, that is a big deal, because he resigned from the PGA Tour following his move to LIV Golf in 2022.
In January, Reed confirmed he had left LIV Golf to pursue a PGA Tour return, but the earliest he can compete on it as a non-member is August 25th, when he will need to rely on sponsor’s invites.
In the meantime, Reed is concentrating on the DP World Tour, but from January 1st, his PGA Tour status will improve again as he will be able to return via the past champion category. However, even that wouldn’t guarantee regular starts.
That all changes if Reed becomes one of the 10 to earn a card via the Race to Dubai rankings this season.
The good news for Reed is that, even though he has only played in four events so far this season, he has already surpassed the number of points the 10th player to earn a card achieved in the 2024/25 season.
Jordan Smith finished 16th in the Race to Dubai standings last season with 2,203.32 points from his 29 starts.
Reed won 35.70 points for his placing of 26th in the Dubai Invitational, another 1,335 points for his first victory of the season, at Rolex Series tournament, the Dubai Desert Classic, and 304 points for his runner-up at the Bahrain Championship.
His win at the Qatar Masters added another 585 points to the total, bringing it to 2259.70, surpassing Smith’s haul last season by 56.38 points.
Even in a highly unlikely scenario where the top 10 of the Race to Dubai rankings is made up solely of players without PGA Tour status, the numbers look good for Reed.
The player who came 10th last year, Alex Noren, accumulated 2572.72 points - just 313.02 more than Reed currently has.
While Reed’s full-time return to the PGA Tour looks all but assured, he also looks a solid bet for the Race to Dubai title.
Reed currently enjoys a lead of 451.29 points over Jayden Schaper at the top of the standings, making him the player looking most likely to break Rory McIlroy’s stranglehold on the title.
The five-time Major winner has won the Race to Dubai for the last four years, racking up 5,975.10 points from 11 starts in the 2024/25 season. Since the ranking points system was introduced in 2019, McIlroy also has the most points in a season, amassing 6,997.70 in 2023/24 from 12 starts.
Reed still has some way to go to catch both totals, standing 3,715.40 points away from McIlroy’s winning total last year and 4,718 short of his record total in 2024.
However, with over 30 tournaments remaining and the American free of PGA Tour commitments until at least August, he can largely concentrate on the DP World Tour – and the accumulation of more Race to Dubai points - as he bids to win the season-long title for the first time.
Reed's start to the year has also given a welcome boost to his world ranking, which has implications for Major appearances.
He's already guaranteed his spot at The Masters thanks to his win in 2018, but his latest title means he's expected to climb to 17th in the world rankings, opening the door to likely appearances at the three other Majors.
